??7.5lbs, 100.5lbs down :-D
I started the summer about 10 pounds heavier than I currently am and up until then was losing about 10 pounds a month. So when my weight loss slowed down I figured that I must be just about done. While I always had a number in my head my surgeon and family doctor both were reluctant to assign a goal weight for me. They both have told me to not obsess over the numbers just focus on eating right and my body will take care of itself.
I was on vacation the week before Labor Day and weighed in at 1?2.5 an hubby in a panicked voice said, "okay you are done!" Two days later I got on the scale and I'd lost 4 lbs!
Woo-Hoo! 1.5lbs below my goal!
Then I hopped on the scale 2 days ago and have lost another 1 pound which makes my weight loss total 100.5 pounds!
It feels so unreal. A year ago I was nervously awaiting my insurance companies approval for the surgery and in 12 short months here I am wearing a size 6 and having lost over 100 pounds.
What's scary to me is that after all of these years of struggle it really has felt way too easy. I worry that I won't be able to keep it off and now I'm beginning to understand what people mean when they say that maintenance is much harder than the losing part.
Anyway, yea!
Thanks for sharing this with me...
~ barb
Monday, September 10, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Happy summer!
??5.0, 93 pounds down
Hope everyone's summer is going great and you are staying as cool as possible! For me it's such a marked contrast from last summer when I was waiting for my insurance approval for my RNY surgery. I was 90 pounds heavier wearing size 22 clothes and type 2 diabetic in danger of being put on meds to control it... Flash forward to this summer and even this triple digit heat is a breeze! For those of you who aren't diabetic the summer heat is very debilitating. I don't miss that at all.
I did want to talk about my hair for a moment. I have lost roughly half of my thin fine hair since surgery. I am taking biotin to help counteract it and am now seeing more eyebrow hairs and thanks to being post menopausal more upper lip hairs :( as a result. The hair loss has slowed and I actually have about a half inch of new baby hairs growing back! A big yea!
I have learned something new about doing my hair...let me preface this by mentioning that I was a licensed hairdresser and thought that I knew everything there was about the art of hair but not this. I was on pinterest (look me up as barb62056) and discovered that you don't have to comb your hair out after washing it. I kid you not! After washing it I wrap it in a towel to blot it, then take off the towel, bend over from the waist and blow dry. The results are incredible! I have soft wavy hair with very little tangling or breakage. It's amazing how much body there is too. I told my boss about it and while I could see the skepticism in her eyes, she eventually tried it and was surprised herself.
As a side note, I started this post at the end of July and never got around to posting it, so as I have more recent news I thought I'd finish this up and then post my more recent post in a few minutes...
~ barb
Hope everyone's summer is going great and you are staying as cool as possible! For me it's such a marked contrast from last summer when I was waiting for my insurance approval for my RNY surgery. I was 90 pounds heavier wearing size 22 clothes and type 2 diabetic in danger of being put on meds to control it... Flash forward to this summer and even this triple digit heat is a breeze! For those of you who aren't diabetic the summer heat is very debilitating. I don't miss that at all.
I did want to talk about my hair for a moment. I have lost roughly half of my thin fine hair since surgery. I am taking biotin to help counteract it and am now seeing more eyebrow hairs and thanks to being post menopausal more upper lip hairs :( as a result. The hair loss has slowed and I actually have about a half inch of new baby hairs growing back! A big yea!
I have learned something new about doing my hair...let me preface this by mentioning that I was a licensed hairdresser and thought that I knew everything there was about the art of hair but not this. I was on pinterest (look me up as barb62056) and discovered that you don't have to comb your hair out after washing it. I kid you not! After washing it I wrap it in a towel to blot it, then take off the towel, bend over from the waist and blow dry. The results are incredible! I have soft wavy hair with very little tangling or breakage. It's amazing how much body there is too. I told my boss about it and while I could see the skepticism in her eyes, she eventually tried it and was surprised herself.
As a side note, I started this post at the end of July and never got around to posting it, so as I have more recent news I thought I'd finish this up and then post my more recent post in a few minutes...
~ barb
Monday, May 28, 2012
Happy Memorial Day
??1.5 lbs, 86.5 lbs gone
My hubby and I were talking about how it feels to have lost so much weight and for me it's a feeling of weightlessness. He reminded me that I had been carrying around 43 five-pound bags of sugar.
43 five-pound bags of sugar. I'm picturing duct taping those bags around my body and then trying to make the 7 minute walk from the parking lot at work. No wonder I never exercised! It was like moving through a pool of water. I always had good intentions to walk or bike ride, but always ran out of time/energy to do so. Not to mention the type 2 diabetes that so exhausted me.
My BMI moved out of the 'overweight' range into the 'normal' range. I never thought I'd ever be so happy to be considered just normal!
I do wonder where this weight loss journey will take me. I had a goal to be a normal weight. I would like to lose some more though because my surgeon assures me that I will probably gain back about 10% of what I've lost within 5 years. So having lost 80+ pounds, that means that I'd regain 8 lbs, which would put me back into that overweight category again.
If you think that it's odd that I'm sitting here talking about weight gain after losing so much you would be right, but it's a fact of life and I want to keep it always in my mind and be ever vigilant just in case it happens. Besides it always has happened in the past - I was the queen of yo-yo dieters!
Anyway I would be remiss if I didn't remember the men and women who died for my very freedom to be typing this blog on a Monday morning. (Bruce, I love you and in the words of Toby Keith, "how do you like me now?")
~ barb
My hubby and I were talking about how it feels to have lost so much weight and for me it's a feeling of weightlessness. He reminded me that I had been carrying around 43 five-pound bags of sugar.
43 five-pound bags of sugar. I'm picturing duct taping those bags around my body and then trying to make the 7 minute walk from the parking lot at work. No wonder I never exercised! It was like moving through a pool of water. I always had good intentions to walk or bike ride, but always ran out of time/energy to do so. Not to mention the type 2 diabetes that so exhausted me.
My BMI moved out of the 'overweight' range into the 'normal' range. I never thought I'd ever be so happy to be considered just normal!
I do wonder where this weight loss journey will take me. I had a goal to be a normal weight. I would like to lose some more though because my surgeon assures me that I will probably gain back about 10% of what I've lost within 5 years. So having lost 80+ pounds, that means that I'd regain 8 lbs, which would put me back into that overweight category again.
If you think that it's odd that I'm sitting here talking about weight gain after losing so much you would be right, but it's a fact of life and I want to keep it always in my mind and be ever vigilant just in case it happens. Besides it always has happened in the past - I was the queen of yo-yo dieters!
Anyway I would be remiss if I didn't remember the men and women who died for my very freedom to be typing this blog on a Monday morning. (Bruce, I love you and in the words of Toby Keith, "how do you like me now?")
~ barb
Thursday, May 10, 2012
6 Months Surgeriversary
??8.0 lbs, 80 lbs lost!
So in weight loss surgery terms, this is my 6 months surgiversary. I've lost an even 80 lbs. and have 18 lbs to get to goal. This "goal" is simply a number not something I've been given by my doctor - it's a number I'd like to stay below. Honestly, if I never lost another pound I would consider myself successful and happy. When I went to the seminar they told us that people with my RNY proceedure should lose 70% of what they need to lose. According to my goal I'm at 80%. Although my doctor says that I'll probably gain back about 10%, so I'll lose 80% and gain back 10% in order to get to the 70% mark. I just want to eat right, take my vitamins, exercise and when my body gets to where it should be it will probably level off. (I'm guessing anyway!)
Here's a couple of updated pictures - I need to remember to quit wearing black for these pics, it doesn't really show any details...
So in weight loss surgery terms, this is my 6 months surgiversary. I've lost an even 80 lbs. and have 18 lbs to get to goal. This "goal" is simply a number not something I've been given by my doctor - it's a number I'd like to stay below. Honestly, if I never lost another pound I would consider myself successful and happy. When I went to the seminar they told us that people with my RNY proceedure should lose 70% of what they need to lose. According to my goal I'm at 80%. Although my doctor says that I'll probably gain back about 10%, so I'll lose 80% and gain back 10% in order to get to the 70% mark. I just want to eat right, take my vitamins, exercise and when my body gets to where it should be it will probably level off. (I'm guessing anyway!)
Here's a couple of updated pictures - I need to remember to quit wearing black for these pics, it doesn't really show any details...
I seem to have lost my butt & boobs somewhere. I'm going through the hair loss (which I've been assured that will grow back but the butt & boobs are gone for good!)
I've become a Goodwill fanatic! It's funny that since I'm more of a normal size (size 10-12) just about anything looks good - when I was a size 22, I spent a fortune on clothes and wouldn't step foot inside a Goodwill.
thanks...
~ barb
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
5 Months Post Op
??5.0 down 73lbs
Just a quick update before I have to get ready for work...
I have a big number on the scale that I've never been able to get below foe longer than say, oh 2 weeks. I got below it a week ago, but then Easter hit and when I stepped on the scale yesterday I never expected to show a loss of 3 lbs! Yea!!! I guess I am well and truly below that big number...without any monstrous effort on my part, just doing what I do all the time.
Oh and Sunday I had a big non-scale victory too, I bought a dress at Ann Taylor's in a size 12 petite. It fit perfectly! I can't remember exactly when I last wore a 12. Probably for a brief moment after my youngest son was born before my weight began the upward spiraling.
On a down note, I finally experienced the dreaded 'dumping syndrome' after eating part of a diet root beer float. It was fairly bad enough to warn me off of soft serve ice cream for the near futur. But on the good side, it's good to know my surgery is working. The dumping syndrome was why I chose this version so that it would deter me from eating sweets and fatty foods. I was beginning to worry that it wouldn't affect me, but there you go - it did!
I am pleased with with it....
~ barb
Just a quick update before I have to get ready for work...
I have a big number on the scale that I've never been able to get below foe longer than say, oh 2 weeks. I got below it a week ago, but then Easter hit and when I stepped on the scale yesterday I never expected to show a loss of 3 lbs! Yea!!! I guess I am well and truly below that big number...without any monstrous effort on my part, just doing what I do all the time.
Oh and Sunday I had a big non-scale victory too, I bought a dress at Ann Taylor's in a size 12 petite. It fit perfectly! I can't remember exactly when I last wore a 12. Probably for a brief moment after my youngest son was born before my weight began the upward spiraling.
On a down note, I finally experienced the dreaded 'dumping syndrome' after eating part of a diet root beer float. It was fairly bad enough to warn me off of soft serve ice cream for the near futur. But on the good side, it's good to know my surgery is working. The dumping syndrome was why I chose this version so that it would deter me from eating sweets and fatty foods. I was beginning to worry that it wouldn't affect me, but there you go - it did!
I am pleased with with it....
~ barb
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Sorry I've gone missing...
??0.0 68 lbs down!
I got a job back at the end of December, and it's been a challenge to keep up with my life - much less do anything else. None the less, I am sorry for not having posted anything in 3 months. I probably wouldn't have posted this, but I got prodded a bit...thank you Betty for caring!
I've lost 68 lbs since the beginning of my journey. I've gone down from a size 22 to a 14 (I'm in normal clothes!) My BMI is no longer considered obese, I'm now just 'overweight'!
But, the girls that I work with don't really care (I get a sense of them rolling their eyes behind my back whenever I mention something) and it feels like I'm the same person that I always have been. Except that I tend to buy all of my clothes at Goodwill rather than Coldwater Creek these days. There's no point to spend a bundle of cash when I'm only going to be wearing these clothes for a couple of months.
I have to confess, I don't really do much by the book. The only thing that I do religiously is take my vitamins. I am supposed to get in 64 oz of water/drinks daily. I maybe get 40 oz in. I try really hard, but it's been impossible! Protein is the same, I get maybe 40-50 grams daily and I'm supposed to get 60-70. I know, I am sure I'm going to pay for this in the end. But in a way, not being perfect is a giant step in a positive direction for me. It used to be that when I went on a diet, I did it perfectly until I went off of it and then was perfectly awful off of it. Yo-yo should be my middle name. So, I'm just trying to be imperfect.
Betty and I are members of a Facebook group of bariatric patients who seem to all be perfectionists. So, I tiptoe through it all because I don't want to be yelled at. They are there to be supportive, and I appreciate that - but being perfectly imperfect seems the way to go for me... I'm sure once I'm over my honeymoon phase, I will have trouble maintaining my loss, and remind myself to try, try, try so that I can live a healthy life at a healthy weight.
Anyway...I checked in, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!
Here's a pic from a few weeks ago married with my before shot:
~ barb
I got a job back at the end of December, and it's been a challenge to keep up with my life - much less do anything else. None the less, I am sorry for not having posted anything in 3 months. I probably wouldn't have posted this, but I got prodded a bit...thank you Betty for caring!
I've lost 68 lbs since the beginning of my journey. I've gone down from a size 22 to a 14 (I'm in normal clothes!) My BMI is no longer considered obese, I'm now just 'overweight'!
But, the girls that I work with don't really care (I get a sense of them rolling their eyes behind my back whenever I mention something) and it feels like I'm the same person that I always have been. Except that I tend to buy all of my clothes at Goodwill rather than Coldwater Creek these days. There's no point to spend a bundle of cash when I'm only going to be wearing these clothes for a couple of months.
I have to confess, I don't really do much by the book. The only thing that I do religiously is take my vitamins. I am supposed to get in 64 oz of water/drinks daily. I maybe get 40 oz in. I try really hard, but it's been impossible! Protein is the same, I get maybe 40-50 grams daily and I'm supposed to get 60-70. I know, I am sure I'm going to pay for this in the end. But in a way, not being perfect is a giant step in a positive direction for me. It used to be that when I went on a diet, I did it perfectly until I went off of it and then was perfectly awful off of it. Yo-yo should be my middle name. So, I'm just trying to be imperfect.
Betty and I are members of a Facebook group of bariatric patients who seem to all be perfectionists. So, I tiptoe through it all because I don't want to be yelled at. They are there to be supportive, and I appreciate that - but being perfectly imperfect seems the way to go for me... I'm sure once I'm over my honeymoon phase, I will have trouble maintaining my loss, and remind myself to try, try, try so that I can live a healthy life at a healthy weight.
Anyway...I checked in, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!
Here's a pic from a few weeks ago married with my before shot:
Monday, December 12, 2011
Week 5 post-op
??3.0 lbs., 3 lbs. this week, 35 lbs. total!
I'm just pausing a minute to take in that I've lost 35 lbs. in 7 weeks (or so). It's really amazing! I'm down a size in clothes so if you know somebody deserving that needs size 22's let me know.
I had an appointment with my primary care physician last week and everything is going very well as far as my blood sugar is going. Every time I think to test it (which isn't too often because it feels so much better) its around 100, which is so much better than the 140-180 readings that I used to get Pre-op. Yea!
I went out to eat 3 times last week as well. I did an Arby's Ham, Egg & Swiss Croissant which involved cutting it in half and eating the middle out of it. The egg got stuck again so I took that out and managed about 5-6 bites of the thing. I had to laugh at the guy who took my order when that was all I ordered, "What nothing to eat or drink?" I guess I'll get used to it eventually but I'm a 2 things on my plate person...
Then my daughter and I did Qdobas for lunch where they let me order from the kids menu with no hassle at all. I got a burrito bowl with a tiny bit of rice, black beans, mild salsa, chicken, cheese and sour cream. With a side of their very awesome chips (love the lime flavor of them). I had maybe 5 bites! What I enjoyed best was when I stole a couple of swipes of the queso sauce on Amy's nachos.
Then Saturday my two friends from an old job and I met for our monthly "breakfast club". They were kind enough to let me pick the restaurant and time. So I had been jonesing for Cracker Barrel's eggs in a basket. So that's where we went. Again, the waitress was very accommodating with my 1/2 order and the food was delicious! Plus I really enjoyed the company I was with. None of us work at the previous business any more and it's great how we've moved on and they're just a postscript in our conversation.
My hubby N tried to go back to work last Wednesday with mixed success. He ended up having to leave early two days out of the three. And slept Saturday about 18 hours! I told him that I thought it was too early...but he's back there today.
Gotta run, have a dental cleaning appt in a bit. Fun! Ugh!
Take care,
~ barb
I'm just pausing a minute to take in that I've lost 35 lbs. in 7 weeks (or so). It's really amazing! I'm down a size in clothes so if you know somebody deserving that needs size 22's let me know.
I had an appointment with my primary care physician last week and everything is going very well as far as my blood sugar is going. Every time I think to test it (which isn't too often because it feels so much better) its around 100, which is so much better than the 140-180 readings that I used to get Pre-op. Yea!
I went out to eat 3 times last week as well. I did an Arby's Ham, Egg & Swiss Croissant which involved cutting it in half and eating the middle out of it. The egg got stuck again so I took that out and managed about 5-6 bites of the thing. I had to laugh at the guy who took my order when that was all I ordered, "What nothing to eat or drink?" I guess I'll get used to it eventually but I'm a 2 things on my plate person...
Then my daughter and I did Qdobas for lunch where they let me order from the kids menu with no hassle at all. I got a burrito bowl with a tiny bit of rice, black beans, mild salsa, chicken, cheese and sour cream. With a side of their very awesome chips (love the lime flavor of them). I had maybe 5 bites! What I enjoyed best was when I stole a couple of swipes of the queso sauce on Amy's nachos.
Then Saturday my two friends from an old job and I met for our monthly "breakfast club". They were kind enough to let me pick the restaurant and time. So I had been jonesing for Cracker Barrel's eggs in a basket. So that's where we went. Again, the waitress was very accommodating with my 1/2 order and the food was delicious! Plus I really enjoyed the company I was with. None of us work at the previous business any more and it's great how we've moved on and they're just a postscript in our conversation.
My hubby N tried to go back to work last Wednesday with mixed success. He ended up having to leave early two days out of the three. And slept Saturday about 18 hours! I told him that I thought it was too early...but he's back there today.
Gotta run, have a dental cleaning appt in a bit. Fun! Ugh!
Take care,
~ barb
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