MicaNicole

Last year this time I was just about to start my journey into the long list of Drs appointments, evaluations, testing, and finally waiting. I am so happy to say it is a year later and I am 80lbs lighter. My journey was not just for vanity reasons but it was a new beginning for me. As I began to regain control and focus on the root cause of my weight loss I had to really focus on what else in my life had I just let overrun me. I sometimes felt as if all of the air was being sucked out of the room and it had nothing to do with my weight. Well needless to say I have started to face the pink elephant in the middle of the room. It hasn't been easy but it has been real and as I lost the physical weight I began to look at what other dead weight I was carrying around for other people. My life is not easy, nor has this surgery been a piece of cake but if you ask me would I do it all over again. The answer is yes!!!!!!!!. I sometimes pass by windows and look at myself in disbelief or its really funny when I post pics of my new self on facebook and I get comments back like "When did you take that picture" or the best one is " How old were you when you took this". LOL!!!!! I encourage anyone that is contemplating the surgery. Do it for you and you will never regret it.
 
 
P.S. My 18 year old daughter did it two months after me and she has lost a whopping 84lbs and you can't tell her nothing!!!!! For the first time in her life she is wearing clothing that concide with her age and she is so excited. I can hardly keep up with all the new guys who are interested in her... It is the best gift that I ever could have given her...

In my last blog I was complaining about not having clothes that fit due to my new weight loss, well God heard me and I was sitting in church not even two days later and I get a text that says " Hey got some clothes for you come and get them". I could hear the church bells ringing... LOL . Well I got there as soon as the Preacher said Amen and needless to say, she had a variety of clothing that went from size 14 to size 4. Suits, dresses, jeans, dress pants, shoes, boots. I had hit paydirt. I got home and began to try on the clothes and to my suprise I am a fit size 8. No more double digits for me!!!!!!. I have been strutting my stuff ever since then. I thank God and my girlfriend who has outgrown her clothes... LOL I love my sleeve and all the new sizes that come along with it.

Hello! I just joined this site. My surgery is scheduled for May 30, 2013 and it has been a wild ride getting here. I say wild ride because I just made the decision to get surgery on the morning of April 29th. I researched getting surgery about 4 years ago, but I decided against it because I viewed it as a "failure". I am 42 with a BMI of 46. I have high blood pressure, arthritis in my knees, PCOS, and IBS. That morning I woke up and decided that I had done 42 years in a big body and I was going to do the next 42+ in a different body. I just got tired of carrying myself around.
 
 
When I got to work that morning I called my insurance company to find out the places that were in-network and then I went online to learn everything I could possibly need to know. When I thought about surgery 4 years ago I thoulght I wanted the Lap Band, but since then I have changed careers and I travel frequently. I just didn't like the idea of having that band inside me as I get on a pressurized airplane every week so I started researching the sleeve. By the end of the day I had contacted the surgeon's office, viewed the online seminar, filled out the initial paperwork, and scheduled an appointment for the next Monday.
 
 
The appointment went well and I needed to get nutrition counseling and a psych eval. I called the nutritionist from the car and scheduled an appointment for Thursday and I already had an appointment with my therapist for Friday. Completed both appointments and the letter was submitted to my insurance the next Tuesday. On Friday I was approved. Whew!! Even typing that made me tired. The next day I went for a pre-op group session where we toured the hospital and learned all of the details of the surgery day. And here I am today joining this site.

Happy 8 months to me! What a wild ride! I'm now down to 150.8 lbs as of this morning! I'm now lighter than I was in high school, and not even at my surgeon's goal yet. That is just amazing. My weight loss has slowed to a snails pace, but I'm so grateful where I am that I'm just thankful. I'm working on drinking more water everyday, and I work out at a Women's Only gym with onsite daycare 2 to 3 days a week. The weights have really started to pay off, and my body is really starting to firm up. My problem area has been, and always will be, my tummy. Giving birth and being overweight has just caused havoc, but as long as I look good in clothes, I'm not worried about trying to win any bikini contests! Big news- my mother had gastric bypass yesterday. She's recovering well, and it blew my mind she even did- she kept it secret for the most part until she actually had surgery. I don't know if I was motivation, or if her health was just so beyond bad she finally realized she needed surgery- I'm just glad she did it. I've never in my life seen my mother in a healthy BMI weight. This will be a very interesting journey to follow and watch. I'm checking in monthly on my anniversary date, and will try to continue to do so until my 1 year surgiversary. What I can say, what I will say, and what I have said.... the only thing I regret, is not doing this surgery sooner. So excited to enjoy myself and all my travel plans this summer! Last summer I was a hermit, and miserable. This summer- I've got an amazing list of places to go, people to see, and wonderful things to experience. Attached is a picture of me and my son this weekend, compared to a picture of me last year at this exact same time. I can't believe how much my face has changed!!!!
 
So, for the friends who have been inquiring what the diet I eat looks like... I eat 70% protein, 20% fruits and veggies, and 10% carbs and diary. I made sandwich wrap pin wheels, devilled eggs, fresh fruit cups, and honey mustard bacon wrapped chicken this week. I'm attaching what my sunday prep looks like when I'm packing snacks for the work week.
 

 

 

 
 
Height: 5'9
 
Highest (Surgery) Weight: 216
 
1st Primary Goal Weight for normal BMI: 169 (Achieved 11/27)
2nd Optimal Goal Weight set by Surgeon: 145
 
Sleeve Journey:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 8/17/12- 216 lbs
Week 1 (8/24): 204.8 (-11.2)
Week 2 (8/31): 200.6 (-4.2)
Week 3 (9/7): 196.8 (-3.8)
Week 4 (9/14): 193.5 (-3.3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 9/17/12- 1 Month Anniversary (-22.5 lbs)
Week 5 (9/21): 191.6 (-1.9)
Week 6 (9/28): 190.1 (-1.5)
Week 7 (10/5): 187.0 (-3.1)
Week 8 (10/12): 181.9 (-5.1)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 10/17/12- 2 Month Anniversary (-11.6 lbs)
Week 9 (10/19): 181.4 (-.5)
Week 10 (10/26): 177.9 (-3.5)
Week 11 (11/02): 176.8 (-1.1)
Week 12 (11/09): 174.7 (-2.1)
Week 13 (11/16): 173.3 (-1.4)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 11/17/12- 3 Month Anniversary (-8.6 lbs)
Week 14 (11/23): 173.1 (-.2)
Week 15 (11/30): 167.3 (-5.8)
Week 16 (12/7): 168.1 (+.8)
Week 17 (12/14): 164.6 (-3.5)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 12/17/12- 4 Month Anniversary (-8.7 lbs)
Week 18 (12/21): Holiday Break/Vacation- No Scale Available
Week 19 (12/28): Holiday Break/Vacation- No Scale Available
Week 20 (1/4/13): 164.5 (-.1)
Week 21 (1/11): 161.5 (-3.0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 01/17/13- 5 Month Anniversary (-3.1 lbs)
Week 22 (1/18): 161.7 (+.2)
Week 23 (1/25): 158.7 (-3.0)
Week 24 (2/1): Out of town- No scale Available
Week 25 (2/8): 157.2 (-1.5)
Week 26 (2/15): 157.2 (.0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 02/17/13- 6 Month Anniversary 157.2 (-3.3 lbs)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 03/17/13- 7 Month Anniversary 153.9 (-3.3 lbs)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 04/17/13- 8 Month Anniversary 150.8 (-3.1 lbs)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 05/17/13- 9 Month Anniversary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 06/17/13- 10 Month Anniversary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 07/17/13- 11 Month Anniversary
 
ONE YEAR SURGERY ANNIVERSARY~~~> 08/17/13- 12 Month Anniversary

I think this is as good a place as any to start writing down the NSV as I notice them. I am only 3 weeks out and I have already noticed a few.
 
1. I flew to my sisters wedding in CO and I was perfectly comfortable in the plane seat. I have never really needed a seat belt extender but I have definitely been very uncomfortable in the seat with the seatbelt tight around me. This time I had some play in the seat belt and could comfortably sit for the whole trip not feeling like I was packed into the seat.
 
2. At my sisters wedding I danced! My uncle told me it was the first time he had seen me letting go and having fun in the 20 years he's known me. Now whether that's from the weight loss or my new hubby of 2 years, who knows? Doesn't really matter...what matters is I danced!!
 
3. Apparently I have totally stopped snoring! I meantioned to my husband that I will probably stop snoring and he said, "Oh you haven't snored the past few nights." I guess he didn't realize he was supposed to alert me to this stuff...LOL
 
4. On Thursday I went to my doctor appt and while we were sitting there waiting I looked down and realized I had sat down and crossed my legs....Like REALLY crossed my legs like a lady!! And I didn't even realize it!
 
That's all I've noticed so far, but I'm really trying to pay attention since I think some of the NSV just slip past unnoticed. But I know when I hit those stall weeks that I will need to be able to look back and see all the things that have nothing to do with the scale.

Hopefully the fact that the scale moved 2 weeks in a row means that the stall is over! It didn't move much, at least not compared to the first month but it's going down. So whatever speed it chooses to move is fine with me!
 
I have been trying very hard to listen to my body and eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full. Right now that's about 800-900 calories a day and I'm feeling really good. I have good energy and feel healthy! And my libido is in full swing (Hubby is loving the current hormones...LOL)
 
I am trying to bump up my intentional exercise. I have plantar facietis so when I walk too much I am in alot of pain, so I'm trying to rotate between walking and riding my bike. (Just to give you a visual, I have a super fun green cruiser bike with big flowers and and a basket!!). Monday I rode 6 miles AND took my dog on a short walk (she's a sausage dog with short legs so she doesn't walk far Gonna shoot for the same thing today. I'm trying to figure out the whole gym thing. I want to join one mainly so I can swim but haven't decided if I can justify the money. Then I could alternate between walking, swimming and biking...Hey wait, that's almost like a triathalon...right??? Whoo-hoo Go Me!!!
 
Heaviest Weight: 281
3/6/13 Surgery: 257 (-24)
3/13/13: 251 (-6)
3/20/13: 245 (-6)
3/28/13: 238 (-7)
4/3/13: 238 (-0)
FIRST MONTH -19#
4/10/13: 237 (-1)
4/17/13: 235 (-2)