Christine K.

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 So... here is something only people who are overweight can understand.  Chain stores (Gap, J.Crew, Old Navy, Abercrombie & Fitch, etc...) are the work of the devil.  The clothes are always cute and everyone is wearing them.... except for you!   Okay probably not everyone but it really feels like that. 

About 3 or 4 years ago there were a few brief shining moments where Old Navy started to put Plus size clothes in their stores.  YIPPEE!  I actually got jeans there and it was great.   I thought finally these stores will get smart and realize they are missing a huge portion of the population.  Alas, I gave them too much credit and about 1.5 years ago they pulled the Plus sizes back out.  Who knows who the rocket scientist was that  made that decision... Anyway, I was back to thinking these stores were the work of the devil.  

So I'm 72 pounds down now and the weather is getting chilly in New England.  I've been buying as few clothes as possible as I've gone through them pretty quickly.  I've been living in jeans and t's.  Unfortunately it is getting a bit chilly for that and I was in desperate need of a sweatshirt. Well, unless I'm going to Lane Bryant I have no idea where to even go to buy a sweatshirt.  So, I asked my mom and she said Old Navy.  UGH!  This was the last place I wanted to go.  Well I sucked it up and managed to muster up my courage and go to the store.  I walked into the store and decided while I was there (alone) I would try on some jeans to see how close I was to fitting in them.  So I grab the size 20 and I go in the dressing room with some shirts & sweatshirts.   

I tried on the sweatshirts first.  I put on a zip up brown hooded sweatshirt and turned around to the mirror and busted into tears.  I couldn't believe it.  It fit and I could zip it up.  (WOW).  So I took a deep breath and decided to try the jeans.  All I could think was "well if they are close to zipping I'll know I'm almost there and that's an achievement".  I slip them on zip and button and they are sooooo big I can take them back off without unzipping and unbuttoning.  More Tears... 

So I go back out and grab an 18.  I come back in and try them on and they fit.  WOW again.  (well I thought they fit).  They had a little room but I thought well they will shrink and I was so excited they weren't the biggest size.  I had a coupon so I was thinking I should get the next size down while I was here so I'll have them in another 10 pounds or so.  (am I a frugal shopper or what!).  So I go out and grab the 16 and try them on.  Well apparently I have no idea what "fit" means cause after I tried the 16 on it was clear that the 18 did NOT fit.  The 16's fit like they were made for me.   Holy $%&*@#$.   

That's like a normal size!  A size I can get in ANY store.  I can't believe it. The Women's section is only hanging on to me by a thread... the misses section is about to gain a new chick.   I still feel like people are looking at me though.  Walking around Old Navy I felt that people were looking at me thinking "Wow she must be shopping for someone else, she's too fat".  But hey, the proof is in the fit I guess.  So I say to all... go try on that dress or those jeans or those sexy undies... you just might be surprised.  

Much love and skinny thoughts to all!

 I'm officially  65lbs down.  Feeling good.  I bought pajama bottoms at Jockey yesterday and I bought an XL... that's so cool.  Before I couldn't even wear a XXL.  One more pound and I'll be 1/2 way done and that's even COOLER!  Hopefully I'll be there tomorrow. 

I finally had to go buy a few clothes again.  A couple of t-shirts (size 16-18) and jeans (size 18)...  the 16-18 shirt was wayyyy cool because I like that 16 number... In about 1 size I'll be able to shop in the regular section and not the Plus size section.  That will be so cool!    The first week or so that I wore the new clothes to work, which obviously actually fit... about 7 or 8 people asked me if I was getting taller.  HAHAHAHA it cracked me up.   

1/2 way in a bit less than 5 months is fascinating.  Seems too good to be true and I seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop.   I need to get to the gym regularly again and I think the weight will start to drop off quicker.  I'm going to make a real effort this week to do that.  

Be well and think thin thoughts!

 229 today!!!   The number 2 has never looked sweeter!   I am officially in the low 200's... LOVE THAT!  In just a few pounds I'll be half way to goals.  A whole bunch of great milestones all one right after another... You can't beat that for motivation.  

Thin thoughts to all!

Hi all,

I've been lapse... I haven't written in a while. Not much to report except some bumps in the road until today...

I've struggled with some vitamin deficiencies that have made me really weak and lethargic. I'm apparently really short on Calcium, Vitamin C and most problematic is Iron. I am bruising so easily, I look like my cats are beating me in my sleep. And the last time I took blood it took the poor lab tech about 10 minutes to stop my arm from bleeding! :(

It has taken some time to get things evened out a bit but I'm finally feeling quite a bit better. Yippee! But jeez what a balancing act.... I take about twice as many pills now as I did before surgery, ugh! Wasn't the idea to cut down?

Anyway....

Today I reached the 60 lb mark!!!!!!!!!!! YIPPEE! So the next goal is to be in the 220s... only 2 lbs to go. I can't even tell you the last time I saw that number. And actually in 6 pounds I'll be 1/2 way to goal... oh my goodness... that's just amazing.

This week's goal is to get back to the gym now that I'm feeling better... Wish me luck!

Much love and skinny thoughts to all.

Who knew it would be so difficult to throw away clothes? I mean really they are just clothes... It's not like I stitched them myself!!! I also never realized how many I had... jeez.

I've had to make a couple passes at the task. So far I've given 10 garbage bags to Big Brothers/Big Sisters. It has totaled 217 items of clothing! Holy Moly...

The worst part is really that there were quite a few things that I just wasn't ready to get rid of yet. Favorite items, you know? I think the reason is that I still don't see myself like everyone else is seeing me now. I'm down 55 pounds, which intellectually I realize means my body has changed but in my head I'm exactly the same. So I think I hold on to them so I'll have something to fit in...

As far as the clothes I fit in right now, my closet looks like Smurfette's.... remember how she had like 10 dresses all EXACTLY the same... I now have about 5 of the same t-shirts all in different colors and 2 pairs of jeans! lol... It's actually kind of amusing. But hey I can't complain my t-shirts and my jeans are 4 sizes smaller already!!

I'll leave you with a philosophical point to ponder... Only one female smurf (Smurfette) and like 100 male smurfs... where did that baby smurf come from??? hmmmm....

Be well...

Another level down... Today I hit the 230s... 239! I was more excited for that then even the 50 pounds mark. I don't know why. So I'm just 2 pounds away from 55... That's pretty cool.

I have never been able to look at things in little steps. It is really the reason I have never been successful before to be honest. Before surgery I would get to 10 pounds or so and then realize how much more there was to go and my motivation would go away. For some reason I've actually been able to do that now... I think because I know that the bigger goal will come eventually now...

Maybe that's why the 230s were a big deal... so we'll work on 55 lbs down now and then we'll work to get below 235... and so on... it seems to be working! Baby steps... who knew?

It really is amazing to see the lower 200s on the scale when I started at almost 300... Even better today not only did I hit the 230s but I have less than 80 to lose. 79 lbs to go until goal!

Much love to all!

Ahhh...

The long awaited 50 lbs down is here!  It has been teasing me for weeks now.  I've been waffling between 47 and 49 pounds... I was ready to throw the scale out the window! (don't worry though, I live in the basement so no one would have been hurt, hee hee).

I posted some new two month comparison pics last week of my progress at 46 pounds down.  I can see a bit of a difference but I don't think I see as much as everyone else does.  I guess you never see that kind of stuff in yourself though right?  

I'm at 241.6 now and I CAN'T WAIT until I see the 230s on my scale... that is soooooo close to not being in the 200s anymore!  To start close to 300 and come down much closer to 200 is very cool.  It seems that having someone go in and rearrange your insides had it's benefits... Go Figure!  

Much love and skinny thoughts to all!  Peace!

Okay so in 2006 I went to the Hilton Head Health Spa as one of my last attempts to lose weight on my own. I actually had an amazing experience there and I would recommend it to anyone. I learned a huge amount... But when I went there I was at my highest weight which was 292 lbs. I have all my measurements from then and I've done my measurements now at 49lbs down! Check 'em out!

Area Starting Current Down
Waist 48 in 42 in 6 in
Upper Arm 17.5 in 15.5 in 2 in
Chest 51 in 47 in 4 in
Buttocks 57.25 in 53 in 4.25 in
Thigh 33.75 in 30 in 3.75 in
Total: 20 in.

20 INCHES gone! yippee! And it seems people were right. Even when you stall a bit I seem to keep losing inches. Gotta love that, there seems to be progress at least someplace even if it isn't totally obvious!

Luck and Love All!

Okay so I hate roller coasters... I get extremely motion sick... and okay they might be a little scary. I went to Disney's Animal Kingdom last year and went on the new Everest Roller Coaster (I don't know what I was thinking). When the ride stopped, I was so relieved I busted into tears... get the picture? I don't like roller coasters.

This whole surgery, weight loss thing has been the biggest roller coaster I have ever been on. I feel like one second I look in the mirror and I can see the work and progress and I feel really good...even confident. Then the next second, I feel like I haven't done nearly enough and I think I'm going to be the first person in history that the surgery doesn't work on! UGH!

Right at the moment the roller coaster seems to be going in a loop. The loop is dehydration to sick (cold, bronchitis, etc...) to dehydration. The problem with this other than the obvious is that I'm exhausted. The last thing I want to do is exercise. My house is a disaster and I'm just not getting things done. I really need to try to break out of this loop. Hopefully this week I can keep up the food and fluid and get some exercise. Then maybe my weight loss will start again!

Everyone cross your fingers!

The day has come! Yes it's true! The day that I have been excited about... are you ready??? Hold your breath! Are you sitting down??? Today when I got on the scale the second number was less then 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's true it's true... I wouldn't lie about such a serious matter. I was 249 today! That makes a total of 43 pounds... the total isn't even what's so exciting. I can't even remember the last time I was below 250, I really can't. I was thinking that instead of saying I have more than 90 pounds to get below 200, now I get to say I have less than 50... How cool is that?

I'm excited but don't get me wrong. I'm still beating myself up a little. I always feel like I could have done better. It's my dad in my head, I guess. He was one of those dad's that saw a test I had with a grade of 95 and wanted to know where the other 5 points where. So I spend all of my life now chasing those other 5 points. My therapist says we NEED to work on this because I'm beating myself up. It is better than it used to be though.

Had to go to the surgeon today. I'm really dehydrated and not feeling well. I'm also having pain in one of my incisions. The incision is the one that the retractor was in and even though it is pretty much healed he said it is very common for younger people to have pain here. I managed to get myself dehydrated going back to work and getting busy. Not focusing so much on drinking meant I just didn't keep up. I am sick to my stomach now though so drinking and eating is hard. He gave me some anti-nausea meds and is going to let me try to catch up in the next day or so... otherwise I"m ER bound to get IV fluids (how fun!)... ahhhh but with all that... life is still good and getting a little better every day!

Much love and skinny thoughts to all!