Amanda B.

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I can't BELIEVE it's been a year!!! I've lost 107lbs and I feel FANTASTIC! I didn't know I'd be so elated to wear a size small shirt and size 10 jeans! It's encouraging to see how far I've come and how far I can still go! Up next will be surgery options for me and I could not be more excited! My tummy has got to go and my breats definitely need some work but I am ready and I feel as though I have worked hard to get down to 151! I would realistically like to get to 140 or even 135 but I'm not in a rush for that. I eat healthier than I ever imagined I would and so do my husband and children. I started going back to college and I will be finished with my bachelors next December! I can't believe what a huge impact WLS has had on my life. I am truly blessed! :) 

About 2 1/2 weeks ago I finally did it, I lost 100 pounds since my surgery date! I am officially down to 157! It was a surreal moment for me. I'd been thinking of that moment since before the actual surgery date. Since that weigh in day however, I have only lost one pound. That has been weighing heavily on my mind lately. I know I should be considered lucky to have escaped the dreaded slump in weight loss until this point, but I sure do miss seeing that 1-2 lb weight loss every week when I weigh in. 

I think I need to focus more on my protein and water intake and I need to up my activity. I start my first set of full time college courses for my Social Work major tomorrow and I am BEYOND elated that I can wear cute clothes to campus! I know that is a silly thing to be excited over, but it was never a reality for me when I was wearing my size 22 jeans. Now I'm in a 10 and small shirts and I can't wait to get dressed in the morning! 

Anyway, that's my update, I hope everyone is doing fantastic!!!  

The rush I get when I step on the scale for my weekly weigh-in and see that I've lost another 2 pounds is a feeling that I find hard to describe. Sure, 2 pounds doesn't sound like much, but it's been pretty steady these past few months. Sure I have weeks where I don't lose a single pound and I have weeks where I lose 1-4 pounds, but every pound counts. I can remember back before I had the WLS and losing a pound or two meant nothing to me. I was still humongous and one pound was not putting a dent in my huge number. Now when I see 2 pounds I jump up and down and scream for my daughters to come in and give me a huge hug and when they ask what for, I just say that I'm happy that I can run and play with them today! 

Speaking of my daughters, my oldest is almost 4 and she is aware that I have lost weight. Recently she told me, "Mommy you don't look fat today, you look skinny!" As much as it was nice to hear those words, I don't want to hear them from my child. We made a rule right then and there that 'FAT' is an UGLY word. We will NOT be using the word fat for any reason any more. I don't want my daughter to think that fat is an appropriate way to describe anyone's personal appearace. Not mine, not anyone elses and CERTAINLY never her own.

It kills me a little to think that she has heard me talk about my own weight so much that she even knows to tell me that I don't look fat, I look skinny. I am making a concious choice now to teach my girls that it is NOT about the number (although I do get excited to step on the scale, I will do that in private always!) you weigh, it's about how healthy you make your body. After sounding like the worst mom of the year for having a daughter who says the word fat, I can brag that she is excited to do her 'workouts' with Mommy and Daddy in our garage! She loves to walk in our neighborhood and ride her bike, and I hope I can continue to enforce the fact that keeping fit and exercising is just a necessary part of life.  

Now, back to my two pounds! I have now lost 74 pounds and I weigh 184 pounds! I haven't weighed this since I got married over five years ago! The weight has definitely slowed down, but I am almost 7 months post op and I did expect that. I am trying to up my activity level, currently I walk 1-4 miles per week and I play an hour of racquetball. It's not much, and I know I could do better, but it's more than I did in the past. I know that these 2 pound weigh losses a week will soon dwindle, but I am bound and determined to lose at least 100 pounds by my one year surgery anniverysary date. I know I can do it!

Thanks for reading the ramblings of a bored housewife/mommy! :) Until next time....

Amanda

 Ugh! I just hit my 6 month post-op anniversary a little over a week ago and I feel like I'm going crazy! My weight loss has slowed down a lot during this past month. I can tell more of a difference when I don't get all my protein in as opposed to eating exactly the amount I should, but it's hard and I'm working on it. I just have no appetite somedays and it's very hard to force myself to eat. I am still losing around one pound per week, but that feels like a blow to my ego when I'm used to seeing 3-4 lbs. lost every week. I think I may need to start weighing in every two weeks instead of every week, I may need to hide my scale. lol. 

I have been really emotional this past week. In the past, when I was upset or down about something I would turn to food to comfort me. I could eat and forget about what was bothering me. That's not the case anymore. Now when I'm feeling down, I don't want to eat anything at all. That's a huge change for me that is affecting me more than I thought it would. Another thing that is affecting me for some reason lately is the fact that I can't have carbonation. I was never a huge soda drinker before, but lately I've been CRAVING a sugar free red bull. That of course is a no-no, but I find myself daydreaming about the taste of one on occasion! What the heck is up with that?!

And I broke down just yesterday to my super sweet and understanding husband because I went to a play date with my kids where there were about 6 girls I went to high school with. Not a one of them said anything about my weight loss. Mind you some of them haven't seen me in months and I've lost 71 lbs. For some reason I was devastated. I also put on a pair of size 12 jeans for the FIRST TIME in who knows how long and no one noticed but my sweet hubby. I don't know why their acknowledgement is important to me, it shouldn't be, but it was. I was so upset that not one person told me I looked good. That is obviously something mental that I need to get over, but especially yesterday, it was hard. 

Anyway, there is my rant for the week. I'm going to try and start this new month off with a better stronger attitude. We'll see how it goes! :) 

Happy April everyone!

Amanda

First of all I'd like to say that it has been a whirlwind these past five months. I have lost 64 pounds since the morning of my surgery and I went from a size 22-24 jeans down to a size 14 in American Eagle jeans! They are a little baggy even! I can pull them off without unbuttoning them! WOW! It's a CRAZY thing to be able to shop for jeans in a normal store instead of a store that has a plus size section! I have a pair of size 12's that I can even squeeze in and button, but I'm not ready to wear them just yet because of a major muffin top situation!

Some weeks are better than others in terms of getting all my protein in and remembering to take my vitamins like I'm supposed to, but I try not to beat myself up about it and take it one day at a time! I'm getting better at not drinking while I eat, that was hard for me at first, but now it feels normal to sit down at dinner without anything to drink. Sometimes I find it hard to get all my water/tea in, but that's another thing I just try and take day by day. 

I walk a mile once a week and I play racquetball for an hour once a week also. These are actually classes I'm taking since I transferred to my new college, University of North Carolina at Pembroke. I figured I'd go ahead and get my fitness courses out of the way since it would be a good way to get some exercise that I really can't flake out on during the week. I try and stay more active, going out and doing things with my girls, but some weeks are better than others. 

It's a strange feeling when I think about the 64 pounds I've lost. My girls weight combined is only 60 pounds and it's crazy to think that I was essentially carrying them around 24/7. It makes me a little sad sometimes when I think about the unnecessary strain I was putting on my body, but I try to think about how I've done something about it now and I tell myself to never let it get that bad again. I do NOT want to keep my size 24 jeans in my closet forever because I may need to wear them again. 

Anyway, I'm only 5 months out so I still have some major weight to (hopefully) lose and I'm excited to see where this journey takes me. I can already tell such a difference in my endurance and stamina while playing with my kids and my husband can tell big differences even when he's just putting his arms around me. That's a fantastic feeling! 

Oh well, I've typed enough for today, but hopefully I can continue to update this blog more often. Until next time...

Amanda

I am getting SO anxious and excited for tomorrow morning! I have to be at the hospital at 7 and my surgery is scheduled for around 9:30. I am ready to get it done and over with so I can get home and start my new life! My husband is so supportive it's almost sickening! I am a lucky lucky girl to have him. I think the only thing I am not looking forward to is two nights away from my girls and my husband. I have only spent one night away from them their entire lives and I am surely going miss them like crazy. I can't wait until they are able to come and visit me! I can't wait to lose all this weight and run around and play with them for hours on end like my husband does. I am just so excited to begin this new journey. I know that any pain will be well worth it one year from now! Now I guess I just need to finish packing my hospital bag and take my BEFORE photo! I can't wait to see what this next year holds for me and my family! Good luck to everyone out there!