mrsteacher

Thanks. I wish I had taken measurements at the staring point.

Week 23 Last week’s weight – 198.4 This week’s weight – 200.8 Total weight gained this week – 2.4 lbs Beginning weight – 246 lbs Total weight loss since surgery – 45.2 lbs Average weekly weight loss since surgery – 1.8 lbs Ugh! I gained 2.4 lbs this week. It is not too surprising. I was gone for the past five days on an anniversary trip with my husband and my eating (and drinking) was way out of whack - plus I didn’t get any strenuous exercise in. I got some exercise in…walking instead of driving in a car but nothing too noteworthy. I also got my period three days ago and I am sure that is not helping. It is a little discouraging to see my weight above 200 again. I missed five days at Crossfit but went last night and this morning (I’m trying to do it at least 3x a week for the first month). I am dog/house sitting for the next 10 days and I am hoping to keep myself on a pretty tight eating/exercising plan during that time just to get back on track. Hoping to report a loss next week.

You need to post a picture of you in your new clothes!

Week 22 Last week’s weight – 199.4 This week’s weight – 198.4 Total weight lost this week – 1 Beginning weight – 246 lbs Total weight loss since surgery – 47.6 lbs Average weekly weight loss since surgery – 2.1 lbs Excited that I lost 1 lb this week. My next goal is to be down 50 lbs by the time I hit the 6 month mark in a couple of weeks. That means 2.4 lbs in 2 weeks. Fingers crossed I can do it. Crossfit should help. I’ve been to two official classes and while things are greatly scaled back for me I still find it a challenging workout. I am going to have to stay vigilant this weekend. I have an anniversary trip I am taking with my husband and that will involve a disruption in routine, eating out, and drinking AND I am getting my period. On the clothing front, I bought a pair of size 18 khaki jeans at Walmart and have to wear them with wedge sandals due to the length. The combo of the long jeans and higher shoes makes me look thinned out. I got a ton of compliments today as a result! I also walked by Cato (a clothing store) and was so excited I could purchase clothes on the nonplus side of the shop. I even fit into a cute pair of size 16 black dress pants (that of course I bought).

Week 21 Last week’s weight – 200.2 This week’s weight – 199.4 Total weight lost this week – .8 Beginning weight – 246 lbs Total weight loss since surgery – 46.6 lbs Average weekly weight loss since surgery – 2.1 lbs Woo Hooo!!!!!! I am officially under 200 lbs as of this week. Although I didn’t have a spectacular weight loss it was enough to drive me under the 200 mark. My next goal is to get some more distance from the number 200 (right now I’m a little too close for comfort…particularly since I go into PMS mode next week). I joined our Cross Fit gym this week and am currently going through their foundations class (4 classes total $100 not included in the month rate). I signed up for 3 months (after which it becomes a month-to-month charge). It is kind of expensive ($125/month) and I hesitated to join for a couple of reasons (expense and difficulty). The expense part I will have to live with (this was made slightly easier because I had a summer job that I applied that money toward) and I can scale back the difficulty and build up What I like about the gym is that you walk in and there is a warm up and a routine of the day (once that is done you are finished). I also like that there is always a certified staff on the floor who can help. My warm up yesterday was a 250 meter row, 10 situps, 10 walking lunges (done twice). I scaled back the walking lunges because my knees aren’t great and they are difficult for me. The workout was 21 deadlifts, 800 meter run, 21 deadlifts, 550 meter run, 21 deadlifts, 400 meter run. My workout was scaled back (with the help of the staff) to 15 deadlifts (with reduced weight) and a 400 meter run/walk, 10 deadlifts with a 250 meter run/walk, 5 deadlifts with a 100 meter run. The goal is to build up from that. My plan is to go to the M-W-F classes and see where I stand at the end of the three months. Another thing I like about the gym is I really don’t care what I look like or what anyone else looks like. Everyone is just coming in, doing the routine to the best of their ability and moving on. Since we are all “in it together” people are very encouraging (some are competitive but that works for them). The one thing I don’t want to do is become bulky (there is a lot of weight lifting). There are several women who go to the gym who are quite muscular and my goal is a bit different. I just want to become tone and fit but I think I can manage that by not going crazy with adding on insane amounts of weight. I was also hoping by joining the gym it might help boost my weight loss by shocking my system (we will see how that goes at the end of the three months!). Food wise I am doing fine. I’m packing my lunch since we are back to school. My lunch the other day was deli turkey and cheese roll ups and cut up green peppers and an Atkins chocolate/coconut bar for a snack. I’ve also had a Campbell soup at hand (cream of chicken or tomato), Atkins chocolate/peanut butter meal replacement bar, travel size peanut butter cup (for snack). I still need to be better drinking water throughout the day. Yesterday I went to Outback and I ordered their new $15 meal deal which actually was quite a lot of food. I saved half of my steak and potatoes for lunch today. I need to stop ordering alcohol with my meals (habit). I wasn’t able to finish my $4 margarita and I really didn’t need it. As I mentioned last week I am getting a lot of compliments on my weight loss after coming back from the summer break. My favorite was from a former 4th grader I taught (I know her mom) and she said, “Oh my gosh Mrs. Heaton I didn’t even recognize you. You look so skinny.)

Week 20 Last week’s weight – 201.6 This week’s weight – 200.2 Total weight lost this week – 1.4 Beginning weight – 246 lbs Total weight loss since surgery – 45.8 lbs Average weekly weight loss since surgery – 2.2 lbs I lost 1.4 lbs this week but still haven’t hit onederland yet (maybe next week). This week I have not been exercising as much as I would have liked primarily because I went back to work after the summer off. On the plus side I’ve been so busy at work that I think that is what helped shed some of the weight this week. I tried a free Crossfit session this past weekend and enjoyed it. It is quite expensive ($110/month) so I am not sure if that is something I would join or not. Still looking at the Y at $50/month. I need to get my exercise motivation up a bit. NSV - We've been off for several weeks for summer break and I have been getting lots of compliments from staff members now that I am back (particularly from staff at other schools whom I haven't seen for awhile). That has made me feel good this week

I looked at the Ninja at Bed, Bath, and Beyond with the 20% off coupon but found the ninja to be cheaper at Walmart then at BBandB with the coupon.

I love the $15 Hamilton Beach blender that I got at Walmart. The blender is "personal size" so I don't have drag out my huge blender when making shakes in the morning. It blends up frozen bananas and strawberries well into my shakes.

Week 19 Last week’s weight – 201.2 This week’s weight – 201.6 Total weight gained () this week – .4 Beginning weight – 246 lbs Total weight loss since surgery – 44.4 lbs Average weekly weight loss since surgery – 2.2 lbs I gained .4 this week which is not too surprising. I went out of town on Friday and ate out a lot and didn’t exercise Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. I have started back at school (doing professional development) so my mornings are a bit messed up now and I need to get an exercise routine in place that will work with my new back-to-school schedule. I did my Walk Away the Pounds DVD this morning (just one mile – the DVD is broke up into five mile segments) and I am hoping to walk outside this afternoon after my class (if it is not raining). I have been noticing my hair coming out recently. I have to clear the drain in the bath tub of my hair every morning. The bar of soap has my hair on it and around the sink in the bathroom has my hair. Luckily I have very thick hair so it is by no means disastrous. It is, however, making me think about getting more protein into my day (and the need to clean the bathroom more ). My challenge this week is establishing (getting back into) an exercise routine that will work for me when school officially starts back for teachers this coming Monday. I also need to drink more water (which by the way I like ice cold since my sleeve…weird). Until next week!

jn26845 - Wow! You are at 177.6?!?! That is flipping awesome. I can't wait to get to under 200 lbs (seems like it is taking FOREVER). Congratulations.

Week 17 Last week’s weight – 204 This week’s weight – 202.8 Total weight lost this week – 1.2 lbs Total weight loss since surgery – 43.2 lbs Average weekly weight loss since surgery – 2.4 lbs I am very happy to see a loss this week. I lost the .2 I had gained last week and another pound. I am past the WOW stage of weight loss (where I see a massive amount of weight – which I say is anything over 1.5 pounds – melting off of me). I’m now in the “recommended” level of weight loss – approximately .5 to 1 pound a week. I’m still exercising (walking 3 miles most mornings) and I started adding in some light weight training afterward. I use the exercises in the book 8 Minutes in the Morning by Jorge Cruise. His basic premise is if you add in some very moderate weight you will see a bump in your weight loss as muscle burns more than fat. I’ve only done it six mornings so I can’t really give it a solid review (I’ve had the book on my shelf for YEARS). I didn’t like the order of the activities so I cut out the exercises and rearranged them so they made sense to me (essentially I don’t want to have to get up off the floor to do a standing exercise so I do two floor exercises instead). There were some complaints about that on Amazon after I bought the book so I thought I would solve the problem myself (although I hate cutting up a book L). I had a training class that involved eating out every meal for three days. I thought I did pretty well with my low carb choices and I kept at least half of every meal for breakfast the next day. Lunch was a cold cut sandwich bar and I just steered clear of the bread. I did have wine several nights (the hotel had a free happy hour – hard to turn that down!) but I made sure to exercise while I was away. I weighed myself when I got back to see the damage and I had lost the .2 pounds I had gained last week. I don’t tend to weigh myself everyday but I do weigh myself once a week. I have a girl friend that doesn’t weigh regularly and she recently stepped on the scale and was in shock she was at 220 (from 180). I think the weekly weigh in keeps me accountable (as well as posting on this blog). I bought a new bathing suit at Kmart this week (all their suits were on sale I bought a regular size 18 bottom and I couldn't find a matching size top so I got an 18W top - I need to have my mother-in-law bring up the straps in the back so it gives me more chest support but still from a size 22 that is not bad!). I had to donate my size 22 one from Lands End because it was too baggy. My other suit is all black and I wanted something more colorful. A friend took this picture of me at the beach. Normally I wouldn't have let her but I figured I might need a comparison shot as we go into next summer and I am hopefully at my goal weight. My challenges this coming week – Going out with a friend to Olive Garden (already looked up low carb options and will limit myself to one glass of wine). In a training class two days and it most likely will involve lunch out both days Taking a friend for a medical treatment out of state and will be eating out 4 days (hoping the hotel has a workout room). I’ll let you know how I do next week!

Savannah, GA is in its infamous Restaurant Week. It is a way to get people (locals) to come out and try different restaurants during the hot summer when tourism typically goes down. The premise is that there is a $30 set menu with various chef featured items. My sister-in-law (SIL) invited me to go and I thought why not? I was hoping for smaller portions and spaced out dining which would accomodate my sleeve. I got to the restaurant first and ordered a class of wine ($7). I was sipping on it slowly and managed to only finish half the glass the entire evening! For the appetizer course I had chicken and waffle sliders and split half with my SIL, who shared her fried green tomato appetizer with me. I was getting concerned because I was FULL (couldn't eat another bite full) and the wine had started to heat me up (and it was already a hot and sticky which is typically weather this time of year). I was seriously getting uncomfortable and then they bring out our dinner part of the meal (we weren't even done our apps yet!). I ordered shrimp and grits and my SIL had a mahgarita pizza (which was flipping HUGE). I had a small piece of her pizza and could barely finish it and I didn't lay a finger on my shrimp and grits (and we still had dessert to go). We brought our desert to their roof top bar (which allowed for some movement and resettling in my stomach). I gave my SIL half of my dessert and I took a small spoonful of her cheesecake. I managed to eat the cheesecake and a quarter of my small chocolate lava cake before I had to call it quits. I enjoyed sitting and chatting with my SIL for several hours (during which my other half of the glass of wine was left without touching it) and I sipped on water the rest of the evening. Altogether my meal, tip, and parking cost $57 for essential a half a glass of wine and an appetizer. Lesson learned! I would have been better off just ordering an app and glass of wine ala cart and not touching the Restaurant Week menu at all.

Week 18 Last week’s weight – 202.8 This week’s weight – 201.2 Total weight lost this week – 1.6 lbs Beginning weight – 246 lbs Total weight loss since surgery – 44.8 lbs Average weekly weight loss since surgery – 2.4 lbs Nothing too exciting to report this week. I am getting ever closer to that elusive “onederland” goal but at this rate it will be another two weeks before I reach it! I went shopping with a friend and used it as an excuse to see what size clothes I can fit in now. I am a size 18 in regular sizes and a size 16W in womens clothing (the 14W's were still too snug). Didn't try on any shirts. I bought a pair of 16 shorts and 16 pants that are a little too snug but I figure I should fit into them shortly. I bumped up some of my exercise this week with a few days of walking over a large bridge we have. The entire walk I mapped out is 5 miles and I has the added bonus of going up hill (most of the area around where I walk is pretty flat). I think I will add that to my walking routine but on the weekend due to the time factor (1 hour 35 minutes) where as my normal morning walking routine is about 55 minutes. I am a little nervous about school starting in a couple of weeks because it will affect my morning walking routine. I’ll either have to work out to a tape in the morning or shift my walking to the afternoon (not sure what I’m going to do yet). Eating challenges this coming week – Going to a restaurant with a friend (to***ht) Going out of town for a couple of days (this weekend) Until next week!

I have no regrets whatsoever! Glad I had the surgery done.

Week 16 (4 months post op) Last week’s weight – 203.8 This week’s weight – 204.0 Total weight lost this week – I gained .2 pounds Total weight loss since surgery – 42 lbs Average weekly weight loss since surgery – 2.5 lbs Had to weigh in a day early this week due to a trip I am taking that is going to keep me from a scale tomorrow morning. I must have jinxed myself last week because this week I experienced my first gain in 4 months. I’m attributing it to not being as careful eating this week (we’ve had a giant local festival going on which involves a lot of food and alcohol). I’ve kept up the exercise (3 miles) although I might need to shake up my exercise routine a bit. Luckily it was only a .2 gain so it is not disastrous but I guess when you keep seeing losses week after week it was a bit of a shock. I should still be on track to be under 200 lbs by the time school starts (August 20th). Some thing I noticed this week was how badly alcohol was irritating my stomach (generating lots of acid). I am actually thinking that this is a good thing (It definitely makes me think twice before having any!). I am not sure if that is a direct result of the surgery or if its age. Either way I am fine turning down drinks in order to keep my stomach happy. On the NSV front I pulled out my driver’s license this week to see when it expired and I am now below the weight I have on it (Woo Hoo!). My challenge this week is a three day class I am taking (lots of eating out). Hoping my renewed commitment to watching what I eat helps me make wise choices from menus.

Leah - Love the crapband comment. I talked to my sister about my procedure and I am hoping that she considers it. She had the "crapband" and it slipped giving her a lot of heartache. I can't believe you are so close to being at the 50 lb mark!!! That is awesome. Keep me posted on how you are doing.

Week 15 Last week’s weight – 205.2 This week’s weight – 203.8 Total weight lost this week – 1.4 lbs Total weight loss since surgery – 42.2 lbs Average weekly weight loss since surgery – 2.6 lbs I’m getting closer to my goal of being under 200 lbs (yay!). I’m also happy that I haven’t reached any kind of stall in my weight loss. I keep waiting for it to happen but so far so good (knock on wood!). I also haven’t experienced any hair loss (I make sure that I think protein first when eating and I take a dissolvable Biotin tablet each morning – which is suppose to help strengthen nails and promote hair growth). I have hit the summer doldrums but luckily the surgery helped remove any feelings of hunger so I know that when I am reaching for something to eat it is completely out of boredom and I am able to resist (in my pre-surgery days my stomach would act like it was hungry when really I was bored). I’ve retaken up knitting (nothing fancy just scarves and hats) to keep my hands busy. Right now I am knitting a scarf with a new stitch called a basket weave stitch (saw it on Pinterest) and that requires a bit of concentration, time, and attention. My favorite go to food these days is edamame. I bought a giant bag at Sams that had lots of individual bags inside it. I microwave it for 4 minutes, sprinkle lightly with salt and by the time I am finished eating it (which takes awhile) I am completely full and I feel like I’ve gotten some good protein in. I am still walking in the morning (3 miles) and it feels good to get it over with so early in the day. It is super hot and humid here so I am seriously motivated to get it done first thing in the morning before it becomes too unbearable. I know I have talked about joining the Y but I am thinking I might wait until school starts back up since it will be difficult to walk in the morning and get to school on time. The biggest news this week is that I told a coworker about the surgery (she is the first person to know outside my husband and sister…who I told on vacation a few weeks ago). We were on the beach and she was saying that her husband wanted the sleeve and she thought he was crazy to want to do it in Mexico. I wanted her to know that it was perfectly fine having it done in Mexico and that he would be ok so I told her. I told her that she could have him call me if he wanted. It sounded like a different procedure then what I had so I kind of want to talk to him as well (not removing stomach but putting something around the stomach to restrict it???? She said it was called the Gastric Sleeve because it was a sleeve that was put around the stomach. I hadn’t heard of that so I am curious.) Until next week!

You are at 186???? I am so jealous I can't wait to be under 200 lbs. You are doing awesome! Excercising is always easier said than done (sadly). It helps that I am on my summer break so there is no excuse for me. I think that is what is keeping the pounds coming off.

Week 14 Last week’s weight – 207 This week’s weight – 205.2 Total weight lost this week – 1.8 lbs Total weight loss since surgery – 41 lbs Average weekly weight loss since surgery – 2.4 lbs per week Happy to write that I broke the 40 lb mark this week and I am closer to my goal of being under 200 lbs by the time we head back to school in August. I’ve been walking pretty consistently every morning (3 miles) but now that I am in a normal summer routine boredom has kicked in a bit (which equals eating more for me). I am going to have to watch that in the coming weeks. I’ve started making green smoothies in the morning with kale, bananas, and mixed berries (plus other stuff). I actually don’t mind the taste and feel that I am getting some healthy items in my diet (not that I am eating unhealthy but it is nice to know that I am getting a decent amount of fruits and veggies in one serving). My Non Scale Victory (NSV) this week was fitting into a bathing suit top that I haven’t worn for years (but I spent a lot of money on and didn’t want to give it away – miracle suit top $$$ in size 18W). My Lands End 22W suit is way too baggy now. Until next week!

I was sleeved by Dr. Kelly back in March (so far I have lost 42 lbs). I wrote about my entire experience on my blog page here on the site. I was sleeved just before his transition to Omar as his coordinator. I went directly through him with no problems. I would definitely recommend him. I went by myself and had no problems (look at it as a giant adventure

Last week’s weight – 209.2 or 207.6 This week’s weight – 207 Total weight lost this week – either 2.2 or .6 Total weight loss since surgery – 39 lbs This week I was on vacation to see my family so the week was filled with eating and drinking. On the plus size they live at a very high altitude so I spent the week hoping that less oxygen meant more calories burned! I did some hiking so I got some exercise in and, unlike my neck of the woods, they live around tons of hills so at times it was a struggle. My mom has a Vitamix and made me a green smoothy every morning full of macronutrients. It really got me thinking about purchasing a Vitamix (at $400!!!!). I liked knowing that I was getting in a good bunch of fruits and veggies in one yummy shake a day (plus there is a lot of other things you can do with it as well). I am still on the fence and need to come up with a way to pay for it but I thought that would determine if I was serious or not. I’m looking forward to getting back into a normal routine this week. Attached is a picture of me (with my neice) wearing a size L t-shirt (which is my NSV of the week). What I have eaten over the past few days of vacation: Breakfast – Omelet Lunch – small salad and small eggplant lasagna Dinner – ½ taco soup Snack – a frozen strawberry lemonaid Breakfast – Green Smoothy Lunch – large cream cheese frosted cinnamon bun and ½ a turkey Panini (super regret the cinnamon bun…my stomach was rejecting it) Dinner – Ate a couple of bites of my husbands bbq and ½ a bottle of white zinfandel Breakfast – Green Smoothy Lunch – Small salad and vegan sheppard’s pie, small fruit dessert Dinner – spaghetti with chicken and alfredo sauce one piece of garlic bread, one boston cream cupcake. Three large white Russians L. (this was spread out over hours) Breakfast – Green Smoothy Brunch – ½ a mushroom, cheese, bacon omelet Snack – small, single serving of, vanilla ice cream Dinner – Edamame, A piece of toast with jam Snack – Homemade strawberry ice cream (made in the vitamix) Breakfast – Green Smoothy Snack – leftover turkey jerky and pumpkin seeds Lunch – ½ an In and Out Burger with ¼ of the fries Snack – caramel popcorn, mikes hard cranberry lemonade Dinner – Wine, spaghetti with meat balls (small serving), two bits of salad, one piece of garlic bread, small slice of black forest cake Breakfast (1) – Atkins bar Breakfast (2) – ½ an egg mcmuffin at the airport Snack – Diet Peach Snapple Lunch – 2 bites of a sandwich (my husband’s) and a high protein peanut butter chocolate shake (yuck! Got it at the airport.) Dinner – Atkins bar

Last week’s weight – 211.4 This week’s weight – 209.2 or 207.6 Total weight lost this week – 2.2 or 3.8 Total weight loss since surgery – 36.8 or 38.4 I had a weird weigh-in today. I got up early and weighed myself and was happy to see that I was at 209.2. I’ve been consistently losing about a pound or so each week so I thought I would be in the 210’s this week so when I saw I was at 209.2 I was doing the happy dance because that means that I am out of the 210’s all together (and fingers crossed…FOREVER). Then I went walking this morning (3 miles) and came home and immediately cleaned the bathrooms (which I hate but wanted to get them out of the way). I had nothing to eat or drink and when I went to take a shower after all that was done I decided to weigh myself again (surely I had lost some weight doing all that!). I stepped on the scale expecting to see the .2 of a pound gone after the 209 but the scale read 207.6!!!! I stepped off and on several times and it read the same each time. That would mean that I lost 1.6 lbs since getting up (which seems unlikely). I recorded both scores on my weigh-in calendar and decided I would let the chips fly where they would next week. Either way the celebratory thing this week is that I am out of the 210’s. I also walked pretty consistently this week. Since summer break started I have walked a total of 27 miles. Food Diary for the last two days – Breakfast – yougert (4 oz) and granola Snack – Diet Green Tea Lunch – McDonalds kids 4 pieces chicken nugget meal with milk Dinner – Ramikin size chicken, rice and crunchy onions, tomato mix with cream of mushroom soup. Snack – Melon and a glass of the diet green tea Breakfast – 1% skim milk (8 oz), 1 medium banana, slimfast high protein shake mix (chocolate) Snack – Atkins bar Lunch – Chicken salad (no bread), ½ a small bag of chips, 2 bites of pound cake Snack – Mints (I was trapped in a very long training class and that was all I had in my purse J) Dinner – Bag of edamame Until next week!

I tolerate rice but in moderate amounts. Leah - I've been shopping at Walmart. Try Goodwill too. When my sister was losing weight that is where she shopped to keep expenses down. I'm enjoying buying "tighter" clothes since I spent so many years in baggy clothes. Lisa - I try to post my menus but realize everyone is different as far as what they can handle. My problems occur when I eat too fast. If I eat slow I do much better.

I am starting my preop diet for surgery with Dr. Kelly on the 29th. This is what I got as far as preop diet instructions go: Allowed foods (7 day pre surgery diet) All kinds of liquids Water, tea, lemon water (take at least 3.5 litters a day) Water, tea, fruit juice drinks, natural fruit beverages, chicken stock, vegetables, cream soups, skim milk, yogurt, jelly (gelatine desserts). Same liquids plus pureed foods a day (a first stage of Gerber sized, strained). Mashed fruits, vegetables, cereals (oatmeal, rice, potato, noodles, mixed). Am I correct in thinking that I can have oatmeal and mashed potatoes? What did other Dr. Kelly patients eat during their preop diet?