lejoyrothe

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Holy Cow, it hardly seems like a year and it seems like a thousand years all at the same time!  I had my surgery on October 5th, 2009, so I'm almost 14 months out.  I'm down a total of 112 lbs from my highest weight (82 since my 1st appointment).  It's kind of crazy when you think about how much that actually is.

What's new with me?  I'm in a size 10/12 and I'm still slowly losing weight.  My main goal is to be in an 8/10.  We'll see what happens.  The car accident put me on hold for most of the year and I only just started to lose weight again since I started college.  Oh, yeah.  That's new.  I'm in school FULL-TIME right now and I'm so busy I can't believe it!  I'm going for an Esthetics (skin care) degree (2 years) and in the mean-time, I'll earn a certificate in Massage, Reflexology and Eyelash extentions.  I'm really enjoying it, plus I'm getting all A's! 

Actually, I never had the guts to go back to school until after my weight loss.  I didn't even know I was unfulfilled until this summer.  I already enjoy what I do, but until I felt better about myself, I didn't see it.  Let me be clear, I didn't even know I didn't feel good about myself!  That's the crazy part, I never felt lacking or had low self-esteem.  I was blind to the fact that I wasn't as happy as I should be because I'm a really happy person in general.

What does that mean?  It means I'm even happier than I was before!  Wow!!  :o)

So, is there any advice I could give folks who are not at that happy-I-had-the-surgery-and-changed-my-life-for-the-better point?

BE PATIENT!

Today I saw a post on the forum by the same name and I was obviously intrigued by such an interesting subject.  Boobies are, in fact, on my mind these past several months on and off too.  The post was made by a woman who is about a week out from her surgery and she has really large breasts.  She wonders what she can expect post op and posed the question, "Would any of you care to share your post surgery experiences with boobie deflation?"  Well, she ended up with about 28 responses and thanked everyone who posted a response, but it got me thinking about it as I read them.

Many of the respondees said they had and were still holding out to purchase a new bra.  I guess it depends what your original size is and how your weight is coming off.  For me, I have noticed that my torso is losing really fast/well and I wasn't having an easy time wearing my old bras.  My upper torso, directly under my breasts has gone from a 42 to a 34.  Due to the residual "A cup back boobs", as I fondly refer to my back fat, I wear a 38, but my D cup is still a D cup.

I went to Macy's, scoured through the clearance section and went back to the dressing room with about 20 C cup bras because I just KNEW I would be in a smaller cup.  Who loses 100 lbs and stays in the same cup size, right?  Yeah, so me.  It was confirmed to me...20 times... that I am not a C cup.  had to get dressed and go back out to the clearance racks and get bunches more bras in a D cup to try on.  I bought 1 size 38D and 1 size 38DD!  DD?  WTF?  I've never had a DD before, but this one was a bit padded, so I'm sure that's what the F, you know?

Anyway, I wonder what will happen to my boob as I lose the last 40 - 45 lbs.  Will they finally cave under pressure and shrink to a C cup or will I keep the D and get a bit smaller in the measurement?  Only time will tell.

Okay, OH Family.  To be quite honest, I'm still exactly where I was when I last posted that I was so close I could almost taste it!  Tee hee.  No worries.  I'm just stalled right now and it doesn't worry me one bit.  The truth is that I was in a car accident at the end of January and I hurt my back...actually, I sprained my spine as well as my "shoulder girdle"!  Ouch.  Yeah, so just this past Monday, I had 2 cortisone shots in my lower spine to help relieve some of the pain.  (FYI:  NOT COOL, but I'm starting to feel better.)

All this means I'm not able to exercise the way I would be at this point.  Why should be body want to give up any more pounds, right?  Anyway, in 2 weeks, I'm going to start warm water therapy sessions with a professional so they should be helpful.  Then, if the pain has settled down properly after 8 - 10 sessions and I feel stronger, I'll take a Pilates reformer class (again, one-on-one) with a trainer for another 10 sessions.

Hopefully, that will all work and I'll feel much better by then.  Forty pounds isn't that much to go when you consider how far I've come and I'll get there.  I'm not even 6 months out, so I'm cool whenever it happens.

Hey OH Family,
I'm just 8 pounds from overweight!  Yeah!  That's right, just around the corner now, really.  Unfortunately, It might take me a month to get there,but by the end of the month, I should be at 170, which for me is the beginning of the "overweights."  Yippee!

So, I had my surgery 5 months ago.  I've been really happy with my weight loss and the way I've felt so far.   I've lost 54 lbs since the surgery and a total of 90 lbs total and I feel great!  I've only barfed once (earlier this week...Asian meal...not cool.) since the surgery and that's pretty good, I think.

Right now, I'm 181 and in a size 12/14 pant.  I wear a large or medium on top and last week I had to break down and buy new bras.  My cup is still a D (although my poor boobs are a bit lower than they used to be...), but I've gone from a 42 to a 34!  I actually bought a 38 to make room for my small "A cup" flab pack on my back, though.  I will be really happy to see those little pockets go as I lose more weight.  They have already started to shrink in the last couple of weeks.  My waist has gone from a 42 to a 35 as well.  It's crazy.

If I keep going along loosing 8 - 10 lbs a month as I've been averaging, I'll be done in 5 - 6 months with my weight loss.  To be honest, I think it's both possible and impossible. 

I think it's possible because when Minnesota comes out of winter and things start to warm up, I am the crazy girl who walks 3 - 6 miles at least 3 times a week, goes to the gym 3 - 6 times a week and has what it takes to work out to a video at home.  I'm not totally affected by SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), but I do tend to hibernate in the winter a bit.  This means, the slow weight loss that I've been experiencing should pick up a bit when I get going a bit more than I am now.

The reason I feel like it's impossible is that the weight seems to be sneaking off me at this point and I just seem to accidentally lose a pound or two whenever my body feels like it.  I'll be the same weight for a while, then I'll lose a pound for a week or two, it will forget I lost them and then one day it's real.  I'm losing inches like crazy, but the weight is slower than a crocodile.  I'm not complaining, mind you, I'm just observing this crazy process in confusion.

I'm certain I can pep up my step soon and that moving my body more will help, so at this point, I'm in wait-and-see mode.

Anyway, I just haven't posted anything for a while and thought I would make the effort to say where my head is right now.

So a couple of you asked me what I've been doing with myself since surgery.  To be quite frank, I've simply been enjoying the ride.

What do I do for food?
At this point, I eat anything I want.  That isn't to say that I don't eat tiny bits of some things and up to about 3/4 cup of others.  Here's a sample of the things I eat:  

Oatmeal, malt-o-meal, lots of light yogurt, oranges, apples (seldom), pineapple, bananas, FF pudding, 85% fat free ground beef, ground turkey, turkey, pork, bacon, salad, chicken breast, 98% fat free ham, wheat bread, low fat tortillas, re-fried beans, soup, stew, egg beaters, cheese, green beans, broccoli, spinach, corn, tortellini, spaghetti sauce, protein shakes, protein shots, etc.

The bottom line for me is that I make it myself.  This means I can tweak the recipe and make sure it's low in either fat, carbs and sodium and make sure I add protein and reduce the sugar.  I never eat above 12 grams of sugar in ANY serving of ANYTHING.

Have I eaten candy and baked goods?  Yep, but sometimes I'll eat sugar free candy, sometimes I'll just eat 1 bite and give the rest to my kids or save it for the next day.  I've never had a sweet tooth, but I like sweets.  I make my own cookies and change the recipe up to make it healthy.  

For example, I made banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.   The recipe I found had 216 calories, 10.6 g fat, 148 g sodium, 28.9 g carbs,  10.5 g sugar, 1.8 dietary fiber and 3 g protein per cookie!

My version was 104 calories, 4.6 fat, 69 g sodium, 14 g carbs, 5 g sugar, 2 g dietary fiber and 2 g protein per cookie.

I'm not saying that my version of this cookie was amazingly better or that you can eat more than 1, but the way I've been cooking not just sweets, but everything I put on the table has helped me and my entire family eat better.  I use Splenda or Purevia for everything and go for low or sugar free whenever I buy something from the store.  I use wheat flour for almost everything and skip real eggs when I can.  I also cook with little oil, use cooking spray, real butter (your body knows what to do with it, not so with margarine) and I'm deathly serious about my portion sizes.  I use lots of spices to enhance flavors and I'm trying a ton of new recipes.  I don't want to feel deprived for one minute so I make it happen and just follow the guidelines.  Do I miss the fat and sugar?  Sure, sometimes, but I've been really enjoying the challenge of creating something that's healthy that tastes good too.

I got fat for a reason and to pretend that I'm instantly cured of my penchant for unwise food would be detrimental to my future.  I know ALL of us who had surgery can lose the weight, but the average person who ends up gaining it back, starts to filter sweet stuff back and larger portions into their diet when they finally get to goal.  If I can re-train my body to crave my altered/healthier versions and re-train my mind to love them and to be wise, I have a fighting chance to keep the weight off for the rest of my life.  I'm not interested in being fat ever again, but I know all too well, getting fat is easy to do.  Nothing tastes as good as thin feels, right?  LOL.

What do I do for exercise?
Three times a week, I walk a mile to and from my daughter's preschool.  Sometimes my husband drives us and I only get half a mile that day.  I've been trying to get to the gym, but that doesn't always work because I used to go at night (best for my schedule) and I've been really tired since the surgery.  This year (yeah, I know it's only the 10th), I'm making it happen and I've gone twice.  I think I've flipped a switch and I'm going to make it twice a week.  Eventually, I hope to get back up to my pre-op workout schedule.  I was going to the gym 4 - 6 times a week and working out at home to a walk-fit video 1 - 3 times a week.

I'm trying to be patient with my energy level and not get frustrated about my lightweight exercise schedule.  I expect that I will find out I'm low in one of my vitamins when I get my check-up this month.

Moving forward, my intention is to hit the gym 2 - 4 times a week, walk my daughter to preschool 3 times a week (3 miles total) and do my walk-fit video 1 - 3 times a week.

So, every time she see's me she says I look great and wonderful and amazing and she's so proud of me...!  This is nice and sweet, but since I've known her for 27 years, I can also read beneath her words to the meaning beneath.

What she really means is that the smaller I get, the more pressured she's going to feel to get in shape.  She's gotten up to about 130 lbs and isn't happy about it, but she doesn't really want to work out or eat better/less.  I've always told her she's going to have to make changes or embrace her new curves, but she's never taken heed.

The truth came out the other day when she told me that her intended likes women my size and shape more than hers.  I told her he loves her and not to worry about what kind of women he normally or used to go for.  He's so sweet on her, it's silly.  :o)

I had to break it down to her by saying that I didn't go through the hell and the horror of getting my inards mangled to still be obese.  I need to lose 25 more lbs until I'm JUST overweight.  Then to have a normal BMI, I need to lose another 35 - 40 from there.

She claims that she now understands now that I broke down the numbers, but I swear we've spoken about the details a million times before.

I'm sure this message is all over the place, but my kids and husband are interrupting me every 5 seconds.  Sorry!  :o)

So apparently, I'm unrecognizable to people I haven't seen in a while because I was "introduced" to 2 people in the same week!

It was too funny because they both rent from me at my wellness center!  

The first time I had just gotten out of my car at the office and my renter Lisa walked up to me and said, "Hi.  You must be Alexis."  I was like, "Uh, no...LeJoy."  She nearly passed out!  She said I've lost SO much weight and my hair is different that it didn't even occur to her that I was me.

The second time it happened I went into my office to check my mail slot and renter Donna popped her head out while she was doing a session and said hi.  I swear I said, "Hi Donna."  Now tell me, would a perfect stranger say her name?  Well, I got my mail and went to the gym and nearly an hour later I got a call on my cell phone and it was Donna.  She said, "Le Joy was that you who came into the office tonight?  I don't know who else it could have been, but you don't even look like you!  You look GREAT!"

Now there are so many ways I could take that, (tee hee), but since I'm a cup half full kind of gal, I'm going to take it that I look even BETTER than they remember.  Not that I used to look like crap and NOW I look good.

     ROTFLMAO! 

So, it's been a while since I measured myself and I decided to measure my waist, hips and torso and see where things stand.  I measured first on July, 8th, 2009.  Here's the deal:
                     Starting           Today
Torso             42                    37
Waist:            47                    39
Hips               51                    45

I was flipping out!  It's funny because I've maintained at 217 for about a week, but I've lost quite a few inches in that time.  I'll keep my measuring tape out next time I hit a stall!  ;-)

So, I was doing a little pondering this monring and it occured to me that I've lost 50 lbs since Fall 2008.  That's crazy because only 10 lbs of it has been since the surgery.  That is so cool!  I guess it sort of came off so gradually, I didn't think anything of it.  Even when I did think of it, it was closer to 35 lbs and while that's great, it's not 50 lbs!  There's something about saying 50 lbs that's more substantial and impressive than any smaller number, you know?

This summer I was on my diet and health kick and in August I was down to 242.  Well, this morning I was 221, so that's also crazy!  I think I can tell it alot in my face.  My upper abdomen is also slimming out, but it's also beat up because of the stitches, so I'm not likely to take a picure of that and show it here.  Instead, I'll repost my comparison shot from August and this morning.  I think it's a lot different and it's not just about my hair!