My weight is down to 216 pounds.  I realized today after doing some calculations that to get to my goal weight of 145 pounds, from my intial weight of 361 pounds equals 216 pounds/71 pounds of that still to be lost. I just thought it interesting that my total weight loss needs to be 216 pounds, and that is what I weight now.

I started this process at some where around a size 32 or more, and I am now wearing a size 18, almost a 16, but they are still to snug. My shirts are down to a size 14/16.

My weight loss has slowed down significantly, but then again so had my exercise during the summer months. So I have been kicking up the exercise routine the past few weeks, and the weight seems to be slowly but surely starting to come off again.

I am running into all sorts of problems with the exercising of course. I haven't had a good exercise routine since I was probably 19, and I am discovering there is a big difference between a 19 year old body, and a 35 year old one. OUCH OUCH OUCH! A bad ankle, and a bad knee, along with my tailbone issues have made this exercising thing difficult. However, I am staying determined and fighting through the pain.

I found a great shoe store that does a foot strike analysis, so now I am wearing the correct shoe. That has made a world of difference in how my feet feel after exercising. The ankle will still need some time to heal, but I think the new shoes will help significantly.

I have also been using one of the Polar heart monitor watches while I work out. It has made a huge difference in my work out. The alarm sounds if I go out of my zone, and it really helps to keep me moving and keep me in that fat burning or calorie burning zone. I would recommend one of these to anyone who is trying to lose weight!  It has really made me more motivated to see the actual calories I am burning, and not just some estimated guess I was getting from using the online calculators.

I am also now taking advantage of the punch card I received from SBC when I had my surgery and seeing there exercise physiologist. I have to honestly say I didn't enjoy them so much in the group setting when I met them at first, but one on one they are doing wonders for me! I still have 7 punches left, so basically it is like having a personal trainer for free! I love it. She has taught me to use the bands, and the ball. Both of which seemed kinda silly at first, but they really give you a good work out for your muscles!! I wanted something I could use at home, without having to join a gym, and that is exactly what I got. The bands are wonderful! And I don't need a treadmill, because the park by me goes for miles and miles. It will be a long while before I run out of places to walk.

Lets see..what else...

Food. I can eat anything. Very very few things make me sick. Occasionally something will make me a little nauseated. Chinese food I still can't eat without getting nauseated, but other then that pretty much anything, even chocolate, and cookies I can eat with usually no ill effects. Not that that's a good thing! I can't eat frozen dinners, or fast food anymore. Not that it makes me sick, it just doesn't taste good anymore. My tastes have drastically changed since surgery. I still like either a cheese, or pinapple pizza if it comes from a really good pizza place, but I no longer stand to eat pepporoni pizza (which was my favorite presurgery), cheap pizza, or frozen pizza. And of course, I can usually eat only a few bites of the crust, and then the toppings of a piece before I'm full!  Frozen dinners taste awful to me now. I am very much about fresh foods, which do require some cooking, which I don't like to do. I have to admit sometimes it seems frustrating to cook a meal when you can only eat a little bit of it.

Dinning out I am still learning to perfect. I still haven't figured it out yet that once the appetizers have come out I'm not going to have room for the dinner. And if there is no appetizer, then the salad usually does me in. It takes some control to take only a few bites of a yummy salad and pushing it away so that you will be able to have a bite of your dinner. I have found it best to share a dinner with someone, or it is just a waste of money. Leftovers never seem to go down well for me so no point in bringing them home.

Well I think that is all the updates for now.

I had my six month follow up appointment today. Everything looks great. My cholesterol is below where it needs to be. It was never bad, but now its great. All of my other levels look great, except my B1 so I need to be better at taking my B1 pills. They have me a pin that said "century club" which represents that i have lost 100 pounds or more. My weigh in today was 252 pounds. Randy is very pleased with my progress. And commented that I am more then half way to my goal. His goal for me is 165 pounds. The goal I will achieve for myself however is ultimatly135 pounds.

My next goal is 250 pounds as it is a nice round number. That should be easy as it is only 2 pounds away. Then i will set my next goal of 225 pounds!

I am very happy that my hair has stopped shedding so much, and I didn't end up having to cut it short which was a fear I had. Luckily even though I lost about 1/2 my hair I had a lot to begin with. It is very thin compared to what it was, but it is still long, and as i had a lot to begin with only my hairstylist and I can tell there was ever hair loss to begin with.

It has been an interesting 6 months. The first four were so very difficult, but it is finally feeling well worth it. The journey is far from over, but at least I can begin to believe it is possible to be a thinner, healthier, happier version of me.

And finally after 6 months I am able to tolerate eating chicken!! I was beginning to think I would never be able to eat it again.

I have spent so much time not feeling well that I haven't really realized how much weight I am losing. Of course I feel it, and can tell in my clothing. But I haven't really realized it until just today. I have lost 85 pounds of the 200 I want to lose. That is nearly half of the weight I need to lose in just 15 weeks! That is truly outstanding! 15 more pounds and I will be 1/2 way to my weight goal!! Half way! There has never been a diet that I have been on that allowed me to get that close to my goal. Even when my goal was closer. I'm exited to get this next 15 off so I can say I am half way there!

 

I think often of the things I can't have anymore. It seems every day I am reminded of something that I can no longer have. Like crab puffs with sweet and sour, that is off the menu! And strawberry margarita's are absolutely off the menu now forever. No way I will ever be able to have all that sugar again. I am a little sad that I can't have those things again; however, there is also a part of me that is excited to find out what new foods I like. Since my surgery I have found that I love broccoli with cheese and also fish. I never liked these before. So I am excited to go out to restaurants and try new things. Items I would have never ordered before because they had vegetables I didn't like or fish dishes that I had never ordered before. I think that eating healthy might just turn out to be a great new experience!

Today was the best day i have had since surgery. I was able to eat 3 meals today!

There are two walks i usually take. Either around the block, or down around the park. Today I walked both!! My knees were killing me by the time I got home, but I was so energized from being able to eat that I just felt compelled to combine both walks into one.

I can't believe how much better I feel. I don't even feel like i've had a surgery now. Aside from the fact that I get full very fast, and don't each much in one meal. I feel like a normal person. Today i ate a turkey breast form jenni-o that was topped with cheese and brocoli. I was sure I would throw it up. But it stayed down! And I was able to actually eat half of it! That is such a huge accomplishment.

My weight has stopped coming off in the past few weeks. I even gained a half of a pound last week. However I just know now that I can eat right,  and get enough protein in, and start exercising again that the weight is going to start coming off.

I am finally looking forward to my future and feeling like the surgery was the right thing to do.

2-12-2007  After months of being sick and throwing up the doctors finally advised me that they felt I had a stricture. I went in today for an endoscopy and found that I did indeed have one. It was partially closed to 5 mm. The doctor opened it back up to 12 mm and I feel the difference already! I can't have food for a few days, but I am drinking water much easier and am able to drink more of it. My protein drinks also went down more smoothly.

2-13-2007  I have been dealing with the pain and throwing up since late in November about three weeks after my surgery. I can't believe that it took until February to be appropriately addressed. I asked several times if this was a stricture and was told no. I went through periods of being so sick and dehydrated I couldn't get out of bed. Yet I was still told this was all normal. I am not sure why I was considered normal while others around me were being taken care of right away. Perhaps it is my personality and I am not aggressive enough and I take no for an answer. This has been a good life lesson for me. And has taught me to believe more in myself and be more forceful when I know things are not right.

I am so happy now and I feel so much better that this stricture has been taken care of. I was getting more and more depressed over the past few months dealing with being sick all the time and I was very much regretting the surgery.

I feel so much better now and I don't regret the surgery. If feel like I can finally start living again, and getting healthy.

In feeling better I have also set some goals for myself.

My first goal is to eat at least 2 times a day, as i have either not eaten or only eaten once a day for the past 2 1/2 months. So I haven't really formed any good eating habits.

My second goal is to drink more water.

My third is to exercise 5 times a week, even if that is just walking.

My fourth is to get into a god habit of taking my vitamins as I wont be throwing them up anymore.

FINALLY! Life after surgery can begin.

 

Things are going more smoothly the past two weeks. I have been able to eat 1 - 2 meals a day. And have only gotten sick a few times. It does take me almost an hour to eat, versus the 20 minutes they want us to eat. However the important thing is that the food is staying down. Now that the weather has broken and isn't so cold I am back to my walking. I feel so much better when I am walking. So things are looking up. I keep my fingers crossed they keep going in this direction!

Chicken is still off the menu! I tried it again this week. I have a feeling it will be a long while before I can eat chicken again.

I had my two month follow up today. Randy (NP) advised the throwing up is still all normal, but is still considerned about the nausea so we are going to back off of some of my medications util we can see if they are causing some of of that. As far as as weight loss it is it is a little higher then average. THe extra throwing up is kinda the price to pay for the extra fast weight loss. However I am losing fat and not muscle so everything is good. He did schedule me to come in again in a month for another check up just to make sure everything is still looking okay. Need to increase water intake as is a little bit low according to the scale.

He advised my goal is around 160 to 165 pounds, and should be losing around 12 pounds a month. This should take around 1 year to lose with the last 30 pounds or so taking the longest to lose. Once I am at goal I can set a second goal to get beneath 160; however that is the primary goal to get to a weight where there is less chance of disease.

All and all it was a good appointment. My personal goal is to have another 20 pounds off by the next appointment. Which means lots and lots of walking!

Today I managed to Eat 1/4 of a yogurt for lunch, and half of a chicken sausauge for dinner with a couple of grapes. All in all that is a very sucessful day of eating!

 I know I should be eating three times a day, but it's hard enough to try to eat two times a day. I blame it partially on thirst. It is too hard for me to stop hydrating myself long enough to eat. The stop drinking 30 minutes before and 30 mintues after eating rule. Grapes seem to help a little bit as they are juicy and hydrate me a little so I try to have them with dinner. Other then that it's hard to stop for eating because I am always so thirsty.

Also, I really have no appetite. Many nights I find myself having to drink down a Profect (25g  of protein in 3 oz vial...goes down quickly...but taste awful!) before bed because I have neglected to eat or get my proteins in for the day. Not that I intentially neglect them. It is just hard to get on a regular schedule for eating between dumping, throwing up, thirst, nausea, or just plain not being hungry.