Another month gone by

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted. I've now lost 6 more lbs. I'm a little disappointed that the weight loss has slowed down but at least I'm still losing. I'm now fully into a size 14 and still wearing some size large dresses. Here's new pictures from today:

Little summer slump

Between the heat and the kids I've not found as much time to walk over the last couple of weeks. Thankfully the weight continues to come off and I'm sitting at 55 lbs down right now. I'm hoping to lose another 10 lbs before school starts back.

I have a few inservice days to attend and present at over the next two weeks and I desperately needed some clothes that fit. I went to the mall and got a few shirts, a pair of capris, and two dresses. All the shirts and dresses were size large, and the capris were a size 14! I'm still amazed to look at clothes so much smaller than I was wearing before surgery. Today I have on slimmer fitting shorts and a close fitting shirt. They actually look nice! I love it!

Getting more exercise

The kids are at day camp for the next two weeks so I'm trying to take advantage of the extra time alone to get more exercise. One day last week I managed to take one of the kids and walk two miles. Yesterday I took the dog and walked 3 miles. Today I met up with a friend and actually walked 4 miles! It felt really good but now I'm starting to feel some familiar aches and pains around my upper thighs and hips. I hope it's just from adjusting to different terrain (usually walk on asphalt) and the longer walk. I do not want to start having all that constant hip pain again. I guess I'll see how  I feel in the morning and decide if tomorrow will be a shorter walk around the neighborhood instead of a long walk on the trail.

Overall I do feel so much better. I'm amazed to think I was carrying around 50 extra pounds everywhere I went. It's nice to be able to walk longer distances and not be totally exhausted after. I actually ran two errands after walking and had over 12,000 steps in by 11 am this morning.

I also decided to take my measurements for the first time in 6 weeks today. I was amazed to find I've lost 17.5 inches total from my neck, hips, waist, arms, and thighs. Of that, 5 inches came from my hips! I guess all the walking I've been doing since the first of May has really paid off. I didn't take my measurements before I started this journey so I'm curious to know how many inches I've lost since the end of February.

Survived vacation!

We were gone for a total of 9 days and I was so worried that the extra calories that kept sneaking their way into my diet would add up. Thankfully we walked a lot around Disney and I actually logged a 4 lb weight loss this morning!

3 months today!

Today marks 3 months since my surgery! I'm happy to report that I'm now 44.4 lbs down! That's .6 lbs short of my halfway goal. I am so excited and I feel so good. My blood pressure yesterday was actually 98/66! I had to go clothes shopping because everything is falling off of me. I was able to shop in the regular sizes for the first time in over 9 years and I'm down at least 2 sizes! I went from a 2XL in tops to some larges, and a 20W on bottom to a regular 16. Here are a few of my pics from the last year so you can see the progress all in one post. The first is from May 2011 at about my heaviest. The second is from December 2011, and the last is from this morning.

3 Month Check-up

I saw the surgeon for my 3 month check up today, although I'm not officially 3 months out until the 28th. As of yesterday, I've lost 42 lbs! The surgeon was pleased with my progress, but of course he told me to expect it to slow down and reminded me I'll hit plateaus. I'm hoping to avoid that as much as possible this summer by adding more exercise and activity while I'm off work for the summer.

I found this picture the other day and thought I'd share (excuse the blurriness). It's from December 2011 and probably one of the last pictures of me at my heaviest. I plan to share my half-way to goal pic next week.

Making progress!

I'm not sure what's happened since I last posted but I've lost another 10 lbs in the last 3 weeks. I still have another 2 weeks until I'm officially 3 months out from surgery, and I hope to be able to say I've lost a total of 45 lbs by then! I've been a lot more active the last few weeks. Work keeps me going and then I adopted a boxer a week ago. Clancy loves our daily walks and I think he keeps me more motivated to keep walking.

A little over 8 weeks out

I weighed myself this morning and I've lost another 1.6 lbs since Saturday! It's a constant battle to get more exercise. The surgeon wants me to get 45 minutes a day of exercise in but I'm doing good to find 30 minutes a day. However, I did buy a FitBit a couple of weeks ago and I really feel like it keeps me more motivated to be active. 

When I first had surgery I had this high expectation that I could lose 60 lbs in the 3 months between surgery and the end of May. I've lost a little over 30 lbs in almost 2 months now. I'm still really happy about it and try to remind myself of how great that is. Yes, I'm disappointed because I really thought I could lose more. Instead of getting down on myself, I'm trying to use it as motivation to work even harder over this next month. Maybe I can lose another 10 lbs before the end of May!

Another 2 lbs down!

I'm down another 2 lbs. It is really going slowly but at least it is going down. I can really see the weight loss in my face, stomach, and back. I know I've lost weight around my hips too because I'm down a size, but I'm not noticing it as much. I had such big goals to be down a total of 50 lbs by the end of May but I just don't think it will happen.  I'm down 31 right now.

Just another weekend

I'm not going to weigh myself for a few more days so no weight update today. Yesterday was a really lazy day for us, but today I've stayed busy cleaning the kids' rooms and purging their closets and toys. Then I topped it off by purging my closet too. I got rid of all my clothes that are too big. I'll probably have more to get rid of by the first of summer. I even picked up a swimsuit while I was out this evening. It was a size smaller than my last one and fits great, maybe even a little loose. I get a feeling I'll get to buy a smaller one later this summer!!

6 weeks out

It's been 6 weeks since my surgery. As of yesterday I have lost 29 lbs! I had an appointment with my surgeon yesterday. He said my weight loss is great. I'm averaging about 2 lbs a week for the last 3 weeks.  I do need to work on getting more exercise though. My blood pressure is looking better and so is my blood sugar. Neither were that high to begin with but they're even better now.

I started cleaning out my closet yesterday. I found several pairs of pants that are just way too big now. I also found a pair that had been too small that fit me perfectly now! I love it!

25 lbs lighter

Here I am 25 lbs lighter. I still have 65 lbs to go but I know I can do it. It's just slow going right now.

A little disappointed

I'm a little disappointed this week. Despite being very careful about what I eat, my weight is going up instead of down. I'm hoping it's water retention from that time of the month. I really have to start getting more exercise in and push myself harder. I had hoped to be in onederland by one month out but I didn't quite make it. Now I'm trying to decide on a reasonable goal for the next two months. I've got a wedding to attend at the end of May and we are heading to Disney a week later. Realistically I guess I can say I'll lose 10 lbs a month by then. I'd love to lose more like 15-25 lbs a month though. It's hard because I had such high hopes with this surgery and now after just a month I've stalled out. I know I'm not eating too much and I'm trying to make very good choices of what I eat. If anyone tells me I took the easy way out with this surgery I can tell them I really didn't. I have to pay just as much attention to diet and exercise as I would have if I was doing something like Weight Watchers.

Great but busy weekend

This weekend was so busy. However, other than a few instances of fatigue or not feeling well, I've felt almost entirely back to normal. I can almost drink normally now. I still sip but I can drink more. I'm also adding a few things to my diet and finding that most of it sits well. I continue to drop weight at a rate of about a pound a day. I'm happy with that. If it kept up I could lose all this excess weight in about 3 months. I know it will probably slow down soon though, especially if I can't find time to get more exercise in. I'm really struggling to find time. By the time I get the kids and get home from work, it's time for homework, dinner, and baths. I guess I need to force myself up in the mornings but it's just so hard to do!

Two solid meals!

I actually ate two very small meals of real food today. That's huge progress for me!

Two weeks tomorrow

I went to see the surgeon today. Those visits never last longer than 10 minutes. He said I'm doing great and could start moving to phase 4 of the diet. Time to start figuring out what I can and can't eat. My weight loss has slowed down a little over the last two weeks. I've lost about 7 lbs. I can't complain though. It's better than gaining. I've just got to start finding time to work out. I go back in 3 weeks.

Making progress

We took the kids to the Nationwide race yesterday. It was almost torture for me. I took water and a protein shake with me but would have loved some real food. I've been getting the hiccups several times a day the last couple of days, and I'm also burping more. Its so annoying. I am feeling better overall though. I ate some real food over the last few days. I've had mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potato, salmon, and cooked carrots. I had the salmon tonight and am still waiting to see if it stays down. I'm getting a little nervous that it won't.

Made it through the week

I made it through 3.5 days of school this week. I started feeling so bad yesterday that I went home early. I felt much better today thankfully. I even had mashed potatoes for dinner tonight and they seem to be sitting well so far. I hope I feel good all weekend. A friend gave me race tickets so we are planning to take the kids to both races this weekend. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm taking with me to eat. I've got some pre-made protein shakes I can take at least and plenty of water. I'm 20 lbs down now! I'm looking forward to my appointment Tuesday to see how much more I can lose.

Back to work

I went back to work today. I was dragging so badly when I first got up that I was reconsidering, but once I got to work I was fine. I made it through the whole day and am exhausted now. Talked to Janet at Dr. K's office this afternoon and she suggested starting with some different solids. I'm planning to take a protein shake, cottage cheese, sugar free pudding, and yogurt with me tomorrow. I figure I'll at least be able to eat something from that. I don't know if I'm having head hunger or what but I've had a hungry feeling all day, despite getting in all my protein and lots of water.

Guess I'll start over

I had liquids all day today and my sleeve was doing great. Attempted a little chicken at dinner, which was great until about 20 minutes after I ate. Then I got really uncomfortable and finally ended up throwing it all back up about 3 hours later. Guess it's back to just liquids for another week. I just don't think my stomach is ready for any type of solids yet.

Tempermental sleeve

My sleeve is being so tempermental today. I started out my morning with some Greek yogurt. I'm afraid it might have had too many carbs in it and my sleeve has bothered me off and on the rest of the day. I'm even having a hard time drinking liquids. I did get some sugar-free pudding in a little while ago and that has helped.

I'm looking forward to this uncomfortable feeling to go away. I get nervous about eating because I never know when something might upset my stomach. I was really looking forward to trying soft foods for the variety. However, now I'm almost too scared to try much.

Day 11

Not a lot to report. The day wasn't too bad. I went out this evening and picked up a few soft foods to start trying over the next couple of days. I'm still debating returning to work Monday as well. I guess we'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow. At least I can work abbreviated days if I need to.

Day 10

It's been a crazy day. My daughter has the flu. I finally got her tamiflu and they put me on a preventative course as well. We even got the flu shots in the fall.

I'm really missing actually eating today. I'm not really craving anything specific but I want to feel real food in my mouth. Only 4 more days and I can start soft foods at least.

Day 9

Today has been a rough day again. I knew this was possible, but it's frustrating. I started out by taking my morning meds and then had a protein shake. It was going down just fine but apparently I had one too many sips and the next thing I knew I was in major pain. It's left me feeling bad and like every sip I take is going to come right back up. It's such a learning process. I'll just have to pay better attention to my hunger cues.

I thought I'd share a picture. I hate having my picture taken so this might be one of the last pictures I had at my highest weight. It was taken in May 2011.

My plan is to lose 90 lbs, which is near the top of the healthy range. After that I will evaluate how I feel and look and decide if I need to lose more.

8 days later

Let's start from the beginning. I first began considering weight loss surgery in December 2010. However, at the time it still seemed so drastic to me and I didn't feel like I would qualify through insurance. A year later I finally decided it was time to act. I called the center back and got the ball rolling quickly. I started on December 19th and was in surgery February 29th.  In between, I had doctors appointments, a psych eval, sleep studies (where I found I have sleep apnea), classes, and support group meetings.

I scheduled the surgery for February 29th and had a 2 week low carb diet followed by 2 days of clear liquids before the surgery. I was very calm the day of the surgery. I remember laying there waiting, and I was just ready to get it over. I wasn't nervous and I wasn't re-thinking my decision. I knew it was the best decision I could make. The surgery went very smoothly, and the recovery hasn't been so bad either. I'm keeping this blog to keep track of my progress and to share my experience with others.

• Day 1 - I was out of surgery and in my room by early afternoon. I don't remember as much about that day because of the pain killers. I know I wanted to get up and walk around more but instead they kept me in the bed most of the day.
• Day 2 - I finally got my catheter out and had the chance to sit up in a chair. I had my swallow test which was found perfect so they brought "lunch" (water and jello) up to my room. I slowly sipped and was doing pretty well until a small bit of jello decided it didn't want to go down. I ended up getting sick and had to stay an extra night. I did get up more and walked the halls.
• Day 3 - My night was interrupted by announcements over the hospital of intercom of tornado warnings, which made getting any sleep even harder. I was so ready to go home when they finally released me. I got to start phase 2 of my diet, protein shakes and sugar free liquids, that day and it was really difficult to get much down.
• Days 4-5  - Spent most of these 2 days resting and focusing on getting fluids. We did run out to the store once each day. I was getting around pretty good but was moving a little more slowly than usual.
• Day 6 - I had a rough day with my new sleeve. I felt so fatigued and rough all day. I had a really difficult time getting any fluids or proteins down. I finally tried Unjury Chicken Soup protein and that helped.
• Day 7 - I went to the doctor for my first follow-up.  He said I'm healing well and doing great. I've lost 11 lbs since the week before surgery. He said I can start soft/pureed/mushed foods in another week. I'm really looking forward to it. I miss actually chewing. :D
• Day 8 - I felt great yet tired all day. I had no trouble getting my proteins or fluids in. From what I understand, this happens once the swelling starts going down. If it wasn't for the lack of energy, I'd almost be feeling totally normal.