Amanda131

Faddisc- I often post that the only way I have been successful is through counseling to come to terms with my over eating and emotional eating. If counseling is within you means, I highly recommend it. I found a great therapist that my insurance covered and saw her for about a year. With her help, I finally feel free if food. Feel free to pm me if you're interested in this approach or have more questions. Amanda

Oh, Becca, thank you so much for this. It was exactly what I needed to hear (read?). I think I am at a plateau weight but I also just got tired of dieting and decided to take a break with the caveat that I wouldn't allow myself to gain. This past week I've finally felt ready to start dieting again... Let the fun begin. PS thank you all for the fabulous comments. I've always identified more with my intellect than my looks but you guys sure know how to make a girl feel pretty! I appreciate it.

I would say I'm half-way there at one year out. Meaning: half the time I see the current me and half the time I see my old self in my head. I agree it is worse when clothing shopping. I just can't seem to accept that the plus size dept. doesn't work for me anymore. It's a good problem to have.

I found a great 3/4 sleeve shirt at Target for under $20.

That surgery doesn't cure emotional eating. You will absolutely lose the weight but if you don't do the work necessary to cure the emotional eating issues you'll sabotage yourself later.

I've allowed Dr. Pepper back in my life and I have no idea how I'm going to evict it. :/

Thank you all for awesome comments! You all know how to make a girl feel good.

Worst: the inexplicably and unsupported fear of gaining it all back Best: no pain and the belief that I'm capable of anything I set my mind to

Friends- Today, I Celebrate one of my biggest moments of bravery. I celebrate agreeing to be wheeled into surgery despite a healthy dose of fear of both complications and the unknown. I had no idea how I'd cope in life without the crutch of food and failure. I wasn't excited about surgery and possibilities. I was simply scared and resolved. Now, I live a life I truly wasn't sure I'd ever get to enjoy. Life is good. So good. I have been incredibly blessed on this journey. My approval process was relatively painless. It only involved four months of supervised diet. I didn't even have to do a liquid diet leading up to surgery. My only real complication was a very minor infection on one of my incisions. A round of antibiotics and I was fine. My biggest memories of life following surgery were trying to figure out how to live without food as a focus and exhaustion. I wasn't hungry but still felt a need to eat but couldn't. I worked hard in therapy to be ready for this yet I wasn't. On top of that, I remember being absolutely exhausted until week 5. My other biggest memory is when I lost about 50 lbs. and realized that I no longer hurt. I had been overweight so long that I simply accepted pain as a part of life. To wake up one day and comprehend than general life no longer hurt left me giddy. Since surgery, I have dropped 112 pounds, 12 inches (literally a foot!) off my waist, and 6 dress sizes (from 24/26 to 12/14). I have found a passion for running that culminated in running a half-marathon in January. I found the confidence to apply for a dream job that came with a crazy raise and got the job! I've found pride in myself and my appearance. I've become more than what I eat and how I look. I haven't been the most well-behaved sleever. I feel I should share that in the interest of honesty. When I got the crazy, awesome promotion I started making some poor choices. I have yet to gain weight but I am in the world's longest stall due to poor food choices and a lack of focus on diet. I haven't lost a pound since December. I recognize that I haven't lost the last thirty pounds because of my less than ideal food choices but I am okay with this for now. I know that I will soon be ready to lose the last thirty and I will focus and finish what I started. My goal is to be at or under 175 by 18 months. I feel this is very doable. However, I recognize that this is my journey and I will finish it when it is right for me. Right now, I am enjoying the ride and life in general. I would like to take a moment to thank all of you for your constant support, opinions and advice. I've found this forum and the people it consists of a lifeline on more than one occasion. Bless you all! Of course, a surgiversary post isn't complete without photos! PS- I swear I am not a big drinker... it just happens that pics normally occur when I'm drinking.

Hi JaspersGirl- Today is also my one-year anniversary too and I also have about 30 pounds to go. I would encourage to not put an expiration date on weight loss. This is your journey and it's not something that has to be completed by a certain date. Reevaluate if you need to but don't get discouraged. We'll get to goal as long as we believe we will. Amanda

Amanda is my first name and the number 131 signified the distance 13.1 miles. When I started my sleeve journey I had an deep-rooted goal to run a half marathon (13.1 miles). I felt being able to complete a 1/2 marathon would be the height of healthy. Amanda131 was born. I am thrilled to report that I completed that half-marathon January 29th. I may need to change my name to Amanda262 as the full marathon is next on my to-do list.

I had surgery March 1st and didn't drink until the end of June... I went to the NKOTB/BSB concerts with a friend who is obsessed with NKOTB. I needed alcohol to survive the evening. I've never had any issues with drinking as far as decreased tolerance (other than the fact that I hadn't drank in almost six months). I could not and still cannot tolerate beer- way too carbonated for me. This surprised me as I regularly drink carbonated soda without issue. Interestingly, my preferences in alcohol changes liked a lot of my food preferences did post-surgery. I used to be a vodka or beer girl and now I am a white wine or whiskey gal.

Hubs and I gave up "date night" for "date morning" starting last July. We decided to set the goal to run a 1/2 Marathon and joined a running group that met every Saturday morning to help us prepare. I should note that we could barely go for a mile when we joined and some in our group choose to walk rather than run. It has been a truly life-changing experience for us. If running/walking isn't your thing, you could go to the driving range and hit some golf balls, batting cages for batting practice, join a gym to lift weights or hit the bowling alley. If you live near water kayaking or rowing is also an option. We also really like to go to the horse races on date night. Anything can do that takes the focus off of food. FYI- We are not a super-fit couple. We are both tall but still have plenty of extra pounds. It is fun to get outside of the rut and do active things together. Good luck to you! Amanda

I went into last summer in Houston 70 pounds lighter. OMG- it made such a difference. By the end of summer I was down 100 pounds total. I actually didn't mind the 100+ degree heat. I didn't notice any issues with sunburns but I am a sunscreen spaz. I used my usually compression garments and found I sweat much less than I used to. Because of less sweating and less touching skin, I really didn't have to deal with rashes. As a fellow Houstonian, let me tell you that you are going to love home so much more now that you won't be so miserable due to the high heat six months out of the year! Yay! Amanda

Crosswind- I have no good advice to offer you. It sounds like you know the right answer but just need to voice your frustrations with the time needed to get to goal doing things the way you know are best for your long term results. I do want to thank you for the amount of knowledge I have gained reading your various posts concerning the drawbacks of going low carb. I will hit my one year anniversary next week and I'm a little bummed that I'm still 30 lbs. from goal and have been stuck here since November. Like you, I've contemplated giving up my balanced 1500 calorie diet in pursuit of fast results. I'm not sure what your decision will be but you've helped me decide to maintain the course. I may try a five-day low carb run to flush out the bad carb cravings since I've been snacking unwisely but would then go back to eating a balanced diet. With your background, I'd be interested in your thoughts on the benefits/drawbacks of this. Good luck to you in your decision. Amanda

Congrats! Get those first two miles under your belt is the hardest... The miles that follow are so much easier. You can do this! Amanda

Congratulations and best wishes! My only advice that I didn't see mentioned is to make sure you are getting PLENTY of carbs. Ketosis is very harmful for a developing fetus. You'll probably be sick of eating by the time this bundle of joy arrives but I'm sure everything otherwise will be fine. Please do check back in!

G2 was approved for me from the moment I left the hospital. Grape G2 was a savior as I didn't care for water or mix-ins at first. I also never struggled with dehydration issues. Grape G2 is still diet staple almost a year out. Good luck- Amanda

JustKeepSmiling- I am going to take an unpopular stance here and play devil's advocate for dad. I will in no way do the same for the medical professionals as they obviously violated HIPPA. I have no idea of your weight or your co-morbodities, but I think your father has valid reasons for concern. As you are on his insurance, I am going to assume you are not financially independent. You stated that your mother is homebound. That means the burden of financial caregiver falls to your father. Although complications are not common, they are something that must be considered. Perhaps he is not prepared, either financially or emotionally, to deal with this possibility. You mentioned in a previous post that he tried to spend more time with you after your mother became ill. That indicates to me that despite previous hurts he cares for you deeply. I can tell you that you have no concept of fear until you have a child. The thought of your child possibly being hurt and being unable to stop it literally keeps us parents up at night. I am certain that you are emotionally hurt, disappointed and probably disillusioned at this point. I urge you to try to see this from the other perspective. Continue to attempt an adult dialogue with your father and he may surprise you with future receptiveness. At the same time, work to complete the schooling, etc. necessary to become financially self-sufficent and then take the necessary steps to surgery on your own. Best wishes- Amanda

As a recovering emotional eater, I agree with Fern. I needed the help of a therapist to make peace with food. If that is an option you are open to then I highly encourage it. After eight months of talk therapy I found myself with a better understanding of my relationship with food, my triggers and most importantly I felt confident that I could maintain a healthy relationship with food. While it is still an occasional struggle, I find myself with MANY more good days than bad. I feel for you- it's a difficult path to travel but well worth it in the end. Amanda

Thank you, Meg! I also forgot to mention that the race alone burned 2200 calories! That is a big reason I love this new found excercise hobby.

This past Sunday I officially completed a two-year old goal to run a half-marathon. It still feels a bit surreal. I would say that I can't believe it, but everytime I try to walk down a flight of stairs I am VERY aware that my muscles put in 13.1 miles. :smile1: My husband and I both ran the marathon. Although he and I have been training together with a local running group since July his knee has been causing a lot of concern and we weren't sure if he'd be able to follow through with the race. While I'm proud of my accomplishment, I am in awe of him. He put in 13.1 miles on a blown knee. That's strength. My bestie, Dana, came into town to watch us run (and wrangle our munchkin while we were running). We stayed at the race hotel so that we could sleep a bit later and not be so stressed on race morning. This worked out awesome as Dana and our four-year-old daughter were able to sleep a lot later than if we'd been coming from home. My parents meet up with Dana and the munchkin that morning to form our cheer team. They were AMAZING! You think that having people cheer for you is nice but not necessary until they are there cheering. Holy smokes- they made such a difference for us. It was so motivating when they were there at miles 7, 11 and the finish. I am so thankful for them. I finished in 2 hours and 43 minutes which was 2 minutes faster than my goal time. I would've finished almost three minutes quicker than that except that I drank more Water than usual before the race and had to make a potty pit-stop. Very disappointing. After the race, the hotel proved a fantastic choice. We were able to go back, stretch and shower before lunch. Our cheer squad took us to lunch where the soreness and fatigue began to seep in. Naps followed shortly thereafter. Since early December I've been thinking that I will work towards the goal of a full marathon for next year. On Sunday, at mile 12, I was convinced that people who run full marathons are idiots and no one in their right mind would choose to do that to themselves. I'm happy to report that I'm finally starting to entertain the idea of a full marathon again. Just so you know, 11 months ago I weighed 316 pounds and was winded walking a flight of stairs. I didn't even attempt running until this past July. I was 245 pounds then and was able to run at a 14 minute pace for barely 7 minutes. I joined a local USA Fit affiliated run club in July and followed their program which required three "homework" runs a week and a "long run" every Saturday morning. I can now run at a 12 minute pace for over three hours with my highest mileage being 14 miles. I've made some amazing friends and truly found depth within myself that I never imagined existed. I was NEVER an athlete. In fact, my one foray into athlectics in 5th grade playing softball resulted in my being encouraged NOT to sign up again the following fall. I share all of this so that others may realize that this accomplishment is just as much within your grasp as it was mine. If long distance running is a goal of yours, I will be happy to share any of my experiences. I will say that the nutrition requirements for this type of activity are very different than what we traditionally follow post-VSG. I can share how I've coped. I am over the moon and looking forward to the next challenge. Setting such an intense physical goal and meeting it has taught me so much about myself. The most important lesson I've learned is that it truly is mind over matter. The body can do anything the mind believes it can. Now for pics! :smile1: Amanda

I ran a 2:41 which was four minutes under my goal time and an average pace of 12:15. I am on top of the world! I will post a more detailed experience with pics tomorrow. Must. Sleep. Now.

Congratulations! You're in that final stretch where things aren't always as they appear. Like you, I've struggled to lose anything since November. Part of my issue is training for a high-mileage race that required me to push carbs. I've only lost three pounds since November. But, like you, I looked at an alternate measurement than just the scale. For me, it was the tape measure. Although I've only lost two pounds I dropped two inches in my waist, hips and chest and another inch off each thigh. That tells me I must've gained some muscle while losing fat. I'll take it! Keep up those awesome workouts and the body fat will keep disappearing. Amanda

Eleven months ago I was 316 pounds, unhealthy and miserable. Tomorrow, I am RUNNING my first half marathon. I am pumped and cannot wait to get out there and complete what I've spent seven months training to do. If you're on the fence, please take my story as one of the many examples of the amazing transformations that can occur. I will, of course, post pics and post-race results. I am hoping for a 2:45 or under finish. Wish me luck! Amanda