Forsythia

So happy 2015. Let's do a recap!
 
Surgery May 5th, 2014.
Program start weight 312
All time high 335
Current weight 210
Goal weight 150
Height 5'5"
Age 37 going on fabulous.
 
I feel like I'm in the home stretch. My immediate goal is to be 199.5 by February 7th. Why February 7th? That is my birthday. And my birthday is my favorite day, ever. So this year I want it to be fabulous by me being under 200 lbs by that day. I have a month to lose 10.5 lbs. Can I do it? Hell yes I can do it! (Despite my general downer attitude about society as a whole I'm remarkably positive about myself and my own motivations. LOL). I didn't gain any weight over the holidays, but I also did not lose any. But I'mma be honest, I had way too many coconut rum balls and I have no one to blame for those rum balls but myself because I made them. Dealing with ones own demons and weaknesses never gets easier, no matter how far along you are. Those weaknesses resurface.
 
I got rid of all my old clothes. There was a post on the forums where someone wondered why they were keeping their old too big clothes. I had bags of too big clothes in my closet just taking up space. I kept saying I was going to donate them, but I never did. It was the fear. I took the step to throw them out. I was just keeping them as a crutch to my fears. So bite me, demons. I am not giving into the fear. I am not keeping those size 28s anymore. I will not go back to wearing them, ever.

I did it! When I weighed in on 12/16/14, I crossed the line from 98 lbs to 101 lbs lost! It was only three pounds, however, those three pounds pushed me into the 3-digit realm of weight loss. I was so excited. Now I'm down about 105 lbs. It is just crazy to say it, and I've been telling EVERYONE! People I know, people I don't know... EVERYONE... I'm just so excited about hitting this milestone.
 
As a result of this milestone, I decided to treat myself to a couple new clothes. I walked into Lane Bryant after work that Friday after the weigh-in (yeah, I had to wait until payday)... and said, so, I've lost some weight, and I have no idea what size clothing I am. It was actually FUN trying on clothes for 1.5 hours. To put it in perspective, the shirt I was wearing was a baggy 3x shirt and the pants were a size 22 jeans that I had picked up from good will the beginning of October. The size 22 jeans were so big that I could pull them on and off without undoing the button or zipper.
 
By the end of this trip, I walked out with size 18 trouser jeans, a couple size 14/16 shirts, and a couple 18/20 blouses for work. The idea that I am wearing size 16 or 18 clothing again is mind-blowing. I'm quickly coming to the bottom of the Lane Bryant size ranges, meaning I can start shopping in regular clothing stores again. However, I suspect the next down-sizing I do will be back at good will. I really shouldn't continue purchasing brand new clothing that I can only wear for a couple months.
 
Of course, I may need to go through my clothing again soon. Its been 2 weeks since that shopping trip, and I've lost enough weight that some things are fitting awkwardly. After going through 3-4 outfits the other day, I kind of missed the thing I was trying to dress for. I decided, instead, to tend to my closet. I pulled out all of the clothing I purchased at last year's end-of-year clearance from lane bryant, and found that nothing fits me, at all. Some of the stuff still has its tags, even. So, I started going through older clothing, which all ended up in that pile too. I have a huge stack of clothing to hand off to goodwill the next time I go in. I only have 2-3 pair of dress slacks to wear to work and some blouses (old and new). I would much rather have this problem than going the other way, but some days it isn't as easy as others to wrap my head around this.
 
I'm down over 100 lbs, which is unbelievable to me. If its this amazing at 100 lbs, what will it be like when I attain my goal and have lost over 200 lbs????? I can't even fathom that.
 
Of course, having lost over 100 lbs, I am noticing extra skin, which I have no idea how to handle, other than wearing compression clothes and/or always making sure I have a second layer of clothing other to help mitigate the jiggle. There is no way of knowing how bad the skin will be until I get to that bridge. I've started watching Vlogs for people who have lost a bit of weight and are going through the skin removal process. I'm a little nervous about that part... but I know it will probably be a year before I'm there. Some posts I've seen say that women should target body fat % of 17-20 before even considering skin removal surgery. Seeing as I'm still at body fat of 47%, it will be a while.
 
For the record, I'm ready to be at that point, I'm so ready to be past this current phase/stage of the journey... however, I was never given a FF button, so, I have to live through the next 6-12 months while I continue losing weight. It is kind of fun to think that soon I will be approaching the same size as my younger sister, who has always been much smaller than me. While she was in high school, she swam and did equestrian, and wore a size 4. She is currently wearing size 12-14 clothing.
 
Anyone else working to wrap their head around their new/ever changing body? I would love to hear from others about this.

Well, more like, my face. When I look in the mirror, my face looks the same as it always has. I never had a fat face to begin with, but now, when I look at pictures of my face, it looks too skinny. Yet I'm still above 200 lbs. My face needs to stop losing weight. LOL! Also, this morning, the scale said 211.5, which is over 100 lbs from my program start weight (and well over 120 from my all time high).
 
Anyhow you be the judge on my face.

The first picture is of me and my husband from a few years back. Please note my face was not fat.
 
 

The second one was taken Thanksgiving weekend. I think my face looks weird.
 
I do realize that they were taken at different angles. But still. I guess if my face is the one thing I have to b***h about then I can't complain too much.

At 6.5 months post-op, I am 218lbs. I want to be 212 by 7 months out (12/5). That will be 100 lbs gone from my program start weight of 312. I want to be below 200 lbs before my birthday (February 7th). I will do it. I think as a stretch I could be 192 by my 38th birthday. I've come so far, but the finish line (150 lbs) still seems so far away. The weight will go when it wants to go. In fits and spurts.

One that isn't three sizes too big. Just in time for the polar vortex. FUN TIMES! I was hovering right between the XL and the 1X. I erred on the conservative side and got the 1X. I really think I could have gotten the XL and been okay.
 

Can I just post this picture? A skirt I used to wear (women's 3x) and a skirt I bought yesterday (size XL - from NY & co). I cannot believe my waist is this small.
 

So it's been awhile! Did you miss me? I have been so busy lately...The two day a week liquid diet had some interesting challenges. The first couple of weeks I found myself way overeating on the other 5 days. So at week three I started doing the liquid thing for bfast and lunch on the 3rd day and eating dinner. I've also played with liquid for bfast and dinner and eating lunch.
 
The reason for the experimentation is that hubby and I are going to visit our parents for the next two weeks and I've been wondering how to NOT GAIN WEIGHT! Lots of old habits around food and our families. I plan to shake for two meals and then eat sensible portions of whatever I want for the third meal (I haven't had surgery yet). I'm also taking my walking shoes! I hope that my working eating this way for the past week will help me do it on vacation...I'll let you know how it goes.
 
On a side note, for the lades out there...I threw away ALL of my remaining granny panties today! I replaced them with fun colors, ruffles...you get the picture...no boring white cotton! On the WooHoo front, I also was able to buy a pair of pajama's at Wal Mart...doesn't seem like much but they are really cute (pink with sheep and they say "sheep dreams'). The point is, if I hadn't started this journey back in July, I would not have been able to get them....they wouldn't have fit at all!
 
Hope everyone is having a good week. I probably wont post for a couple of weeks...but I'll let you now how the eating plan for the vacation went! Beth

I had my Gastroscopy yesterday! It confirmed a small Hiatal Hernia, so that will be repaired when I have my Sleeve done.
Thank goodness as it is really acting up lately!
My surgeon is away on holidays from next week for several weeks so I will visit the Dietician and Psychologist during that time
and I will see him again 15 December with Operation confirmed for 21 January 2015.
 
Another Step Closer!!!
 
Lizzie

Because I am running. Who the hell are you, Andrea Diggs? A runner?
 
Let me say that when I run, its like a minute or two of walking, then a minute of running, then back to walking, etc. So it is not like full on half an hour 45 minutes of running. But I am on a treadmill doing something I swore I would never do, ever. Running. And it is not bad. I'm slow - only 4.2 mph, but walking has gotten too easy? Running on actual pavement is harder than the treadmill, but at the gym I feel I've hit my walking limit and almost have to move on to running to get the calorie burn that I want. At 228 lbs, I burn fewer calories than I did at 280. I gotta make up for that somehow.
 
Please seriously, let me know if you see any zombies. Because this is a sign of the apocalypse.

My Hemoglobin A1C is 5.5%. this is normal. Like, perfectly normal normal. Not, well controlled for a Diabetic normal, but not a diabetic person normal. SUCK IT DIABETES!!!!
 
Also, my NP tested other levels and my vitamin D level is finally normal. My cholesterol continues to be fabulous. And she took me off of my blood pressure medication. SUCK IT, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE!!!
 
Bought two pairs of size 18 pants. I'm in this weird purgatorial area where an 18W is too big. Some companies that carrier an 18 in missy sizes, well, they are often too small. So it looks like the only place I can buy pants is Old Navy until I get down to a 16. Damn you, birthing hips. I'm 232. I've never been 232 as an adult. I mean, I think the last time I was 232 I was 14? Hoping to be in the 220s by the end of this month.

Every week, I take a class at my gym (LA Fitness) called Body Works Plus abs. It is what I term a fast and light weight class. Fast enough that you get a cardio effect while doing it, along with high reps (as opposed to the slow and heavy stuff I do in the weight room). The class has 2.5, 5 and 7.5 lb dumbbells in it. Stronger people (usually guys and super fit broads) can go out to the floor and get heavier bells if they want. Normally I take a pair of all three. Last night, Florence, the instructor, walked by and called me out about the 2.5s! She said I was strong enough to stop using them. The high reps do exhaust me! So I took that as a challenge, because normally I do use the 2.5s on some of the shoulder work because I am weak like a kitten in the upper body. I basically only used the 5s and 7.5s for the class. I didn't die. So I guess Florence was right.
 
If this is worst of the problems in my life, I have it pretty good.

Every week, I take a class at my gym (LA Fitness) called Body Works Plus abs. It is what I term a fast and light weight class. Fast enough that you get a cardio effect while doing it, along with high reps (as opposed to the slow and heavy stuff I do in the weight room). The class has 2.5, 5 and 7.5 lb dumbbells in it. Stronger people (usually guys and super fit broads) can go out to the floor and get heavier bells if they want. Normally I take a pair of all three. Last night, Florence, the instructor, walked by and called me out about the 2.5s! She said I was strong enough to stop using them. The high reps do exhaust me! So I took that as a challenge, because normally I do use the 2.5s on some of the shoulder work because I am weak like a kitten in the upper body. I basically only used the 5s and 7.5s for the class. I didn't die. So I guess Florence was right.
 
If this is worst of the problems in my life, I have it pretty good.

You might recall my Labor Day goal that I posted in a blog entry awhile back. That goal was 235. As of this morning, I am 240.5. I think I can do it, kids!!! I originally thought it would be a stretch but it appears to be close at hand. Honestly anything in the 230s will make me pleased as punch. I am going back to Indiana that weekend to see my parents (It is also my Mom's birthday on the 30th) and I know they will be proud of my weight loss. They have not seen me since Memorial Day. That was only a few weeks post surgery, maybe 25 lb lost. Now I'm over 70 lbs lost. My Dad is utterly fascinated by the whole thing. He and I have always struggled with our weight. So he is really happy that I am losing so much and being so successful. He says he is too old to have such a surgery (he's 72, but I think he could do it just fine, we tend to be good healers), so I think he is living vicariously through me.
 
Yesterday I had my belated 3 month visit. Dr. Hungness was so pleased with my progress. He actually seemed quite floored when I told him I am in the gym 5 days a week. I seem him again in three more months - so six months post op. He said they will be doing some labs. We'll find out if my vitamin D level has recovered. Although my nurse practitioner will probably be drawing for my HgA1C sooner than that since she manages my diabetes. She usually tests for Vitamin D and most of the tests he will be looking for. My daily sugar levels continue to be good. In the mornings I used to always be scary high. Now I am consistently between 85 and 110.
 
I had an exercise related NSV while at the gym yesterday. I used to always get pins and needles when I used the elliptical after about 15 minutes. Basically it was like my feet were falling asleep. I used to struggle to do 20 minutes on it - not because I was exhausted, but because the pins and needles were so painful. Yesterday I was on the elliptical for 35 minutes. I realized about 30 minutes in that the pins and needles were not happening at all. So clearly that issue was due to me being over 300 lbs.
 
And, I got this outfit from fabletics.com (my apologies if you cannot see it):
http://www.fabletics.com/index.cfm?action=shop.viewproduct&featured_product_location_id=0&product_id=1439782&psrc=my_looks&master_product_id=1439782&original_master_product_id=1439782
 
I wore the tank to the gym yesterday. It was a little bit exposing. But no one looked at me strangely. No one said I was too fat for it. There was no side eye! I'm just so happy to have more choices in gym wear!

So I'm still in the supervised diet phase before surgery and I've been doing pretty good (insert back pat here). But MONDAY was a MONDAY all day. I went to work with a long list of things I need to get done before our big accreditation team visit next week. Of course, life had other plans and by 1130 I had done exactly NOTHING on my list. I was stressed to the maximum....
 
And then it was lunch time.
 
And the 3oz can of tuna, lettuce and low fat dressing just didn't appeal to my emotional side. Now I've eaten this lunch quite happily many many days...but emotional Beth said nope not going to work.
 
Six weeks ago I would have walked across the parking lot...OK, who am I kidding, I would have driven across the parking lot and gone through the drive through of the fast food chain that is there.
 
So I start looking around the office and I found a can of Progresso Light cream of potato soup....so I had it, both servings...200 calories and way more sodium than I consume now but two amazing things happened:
1. The emotional side of me was soothed in a less destructive way
2. I didn't snack on anything rest of the day (except my veggies that I brought from home).
 
Hence the title...Progresso Soup saved my butt. I have now replaced that can and consider it my failsafe for the next MONDAY whenever it comes!

To be fair, I really hate being hot too. But my office is a meat locker. Since my sleeve my perception of the office being at morgue like temperatures has only been exacerbated. As I lose my layer of protection, this bone chilling cold is only going to get worse. Right now I am wearing jeans, a tank top, a long sleeved shirt and two fairly thin cardigan sweaters. WHO WEARS TWO CARDIGANS?! This broad. I'm pretty sure under my manicure my nail beds are turning blue. I'm just shivering and miserable. Every day. The building controls the heat/cold. So there is nothing I can do about it other than complain in my blog and suffer in abject misery. The funny thing is that summer is my least favorite season due to the heat and the humidity. This summer has been really mild with temps barely topping 75 F all summer. In theory it's been my dream summer. But I'm so cold, that I want the heat. I just want to go outside and warm up, only I can't. It's barely going to be over 70F here today in Chicago. Are skinny people always cold? Do they sit around in freezing misery? Am I doomed to wear cardigans evey day for the rest of my life?!
 
Perhaps I'm being overly dramatic.
 
This is a consequence I had not even thought of. There are worse problems to have. This blog post is brought to you by me being a whiner.

So I've been stuck at 252 for the last two weeks. Stalls suck. I have my three month post op this month (on the 19th, although it has been 90 days post surgery as of today). I desperately want to be in the mid 240s for this visit. It's a mental goal of mine based on where I feel I should be at 3 months out. I'm gonna try to low carb and cut back on weights this week (fast and light as opposed to slow and heavy), to see if that kickstarts my weight loss again. I'm going to continue swimming and taking my body works plus abs class. I love both of those things so much. LOL. I probably should better track my carbs. But I work out a lot ( almost two hours on cardio/weights days) and I know you need carbs for fuel when you are working out. Since the surgery, I do not seem to have the sensitivity to carbs that I had before my sleeve (considering that I was diabetic). But still, my guidelines pre-sleeve were to not go over 50g of carbs at a meal and 30g at a snack. That always worked for me to keep my blood sugars even. Those are the same guidelines I adhere to now. I know other sleevers are much stricter on carbs, so we will see if tweaking them does me any good.
 
Stall busting is complex business. I know I am not cheating my sleeve and overeating. I know my sleeve has not grown because I can still only eat tiny amounts of dense protein. Calorie wise I am good. So the trick is to rejigger something somewhere to kick it back into gear.
 
In other news, the second bathing suit I bought works divinely. It is a Land's end surplice front tugless tank. Looks better on that it looks hanging up. But my girls don't fall out. My old suit was a surplice front one as well, but it was a size 26. this one is a 20. I apparently have to buy my swimsuits for my boobs (smaller) and not my hips (bigger). If I buy for my hips, the girls will make an appearance. And it was on clearance. The suit is a bit tight in the hips, but not to the point where circulation is being cut off. Ha! The things I do for fitness. I spend a lot of money on fitness gear. But I always have. in the early 00s I used to work out at home and had all this stuff - weights, steps, mats. Now I work out at a gym and I still have all this workout related stuff.

So I thought I would post some pictures. The one with the dinosaur is pre-surgery. In April Size 26W. The one with me in the mint top is a couple weeks post surgery 24W pants and 2x top. And the one in the dress is from today, in an 18/20 dress. And with curly hair. The top of the dress is actually a bit loose. I might be more like a 16 in the chest area. I miss my boobs. LOL!
 
 

 
So that's that.

So I thought I would post some pictures. The one with the dinosaur is pre-surgery. In April Size 26W. The one with me in the mint top is a couple weeks post surgery 24W pants and 2x top. And the one in the dress is from today, in an 18/20 dress. And with curly hair. The top of the dress is actually a bit loose. I might be more like a 16 in the chest area. I miss my boobs. LOL!
 
 

 
So that's that.

So I thought I would post some pictures. The one with the dinosaur is pre-surgery. In April Size 26W. The one with me in the mint top is a couple weeks post surgery 24W pants and 2x top. And the one in the dress is from today, in an 18/20 dress. And with curly hair. The top of the dress is actually a bit loose. I might be more like a 16 in the chest area. I miss my boobs. LOL!
 
 

 
So that's that.

Good news! Today I finally braved the pool at the gym. It was fine. All my fears were assuaged. There were older ladies, younger swimmers, big people, little people. I ordered a new lap swimsuit, goggles and swim cap to use at the pool. Bad news! The lap suit was shipped separately and will not arrive until Monday. Good news! I have a Lands' End swimsuit that has been sitting in my closet since my honeymoon in 2011. Bad news! It is way too big now. It is a 26W It's baggy in the ass and way huge in the boobs. Every time I made it to the end of the pool I had to do a well being check on the girls to make sure they were not waving hi to the boys in the whirlpool. The new Speedo lap suit I ordered is a 22W (I'm an 18/20 up top and would say I'm between 22 and 24 on the bottom now, so I split the difference thinking that going a bit smaller than my hips - my biggest part - would last me a bit longer) Good news! The goggles and swim cap are great. The swim cap is lyrca instead of silicon, so it doesn't snag on my hair. Good news! This has reaffirmed that I love to be in the pool and love to swim. Bad news! I suck. All that cardio I do did not prepare me for how physically difficult swimming is. Good news! Every day I do it, I will get better.
 
Now, no more good news bad news.. Just news. I've decided I am ready to bump it up to 5 days a week at the gym. Two of those days will be an hour in the pool. The other three will be my regular two hours of cardio/weights. So now, instead of Sunday Tuesday Thursday Saturday, I will add in Friday, since the gym is dead on Fridays. I do not need to watch Say Yes to the Dress (It's a guilty pleasure. I love weddings! LOL and wedding dresses and read bridal magazines even though I'm already married. Ha ha ha!). I'm thinking that Sunday and Friday will be swimming, Tuesday Thursday and Saturday will be cardio/weights. I will start this tomorrow. So even though I went swimming today, this was more of a test run than anything.
 
I've decided to work on some Labor Day goals. My current weight is 255. I want to be 235 by labor day. That's ambitious, I know. My fitness goal is to be able to swim an entire lap doing the freestyle without stopping in the middle of the pool. It might not be fast, but in high school I could swim a lap without stopping. And I was roughly the same size back then. Yes, it was almost 20 years ago though. LOL.

Good news! Today I finally braved the pool at the gym. It was fine. All my fears were assuaged. There were older ladies, younger swimmers, big people, little people. I ordered a new lap swimsuit, goggles and swim cap to use at the pool. Bad news! The lap suit was shipped separately and will not arrive until Monday. Good news! I have a Lands' End swimsuit that has been sitting in my closet since my honeymoon in 2011. Bad news! It is way too big now. It is a 26W It's baggy in the ass and way huge in the boobs. Every time I made it to the end of the pool I had to do a well being check on the girls to make sure they were not waving hi to the boys in the whirlpool. The new Speedo lap suit I ordered is a 22W (I'm an 18/20 up top and would say I'm between 22 and 24 on the bottom now, so I split the difference thinking that going a bit smaller than my hips - my biggest part - would last me a bit longer) Good news! The goggles and swim cap are great. The swim cap is lyrca instead of silicon, so it doesn't snag on my hair. Good news! This has reaffirmed that I love to be in the pool and love to swim. Bad news! I suck. All that cardio I do did not prepare me for how physically difficult swimming is. Good news! Every day I do it, I will get better.
 
Now, no more good news bad news.. Just news. I've decided I am ready to bump it up to 5 days a week at the gym. Two of those days will be an hour in the pool. The other three will be my regular two hours of cardio/weights. So now, instead of Sunday Tuesday Thursday Saturday, I will add in Friday, since the gym is dead on Fridays. I do not need to watch Say Yes to the Dress (It's a guilty pleasure. I love weddings! LOL and wedding dresses and read bridal magazines even though I'm already married. Ha ha ha!). I'm thinking that Sunday and Friday will be swimming, Tuesday Thursday and Saturday will be cardio/weights. I will start this tomorrow. So even though I went swimming today, this was more of a test run than anything.
 
I've decided to work on some Labor Day goals. My current weight is 255. I want to be 235 by labor day. That's ambitious, I know. My fitness goal is to be able to swim an entire lap doing the freestyle without stopping in the middle of the pool. It might not be fast, but in high school I could swim a lap without stopping. And I was roughly the same size back then. Yes, it was almost 20 years ago though. LOL.

OMG.. did you guys know that Yoplait makes apple pie flavored Greek yogurt? It totes tastes like apple freakin pie. My mouth was rocked accordingly. If you like apple pie, yours will be too. Why was I not made aware of apple pie flavored yogurt sooner?? I like coconut, and they make a coconut flavor, but I suggest - why not coconut cream pie flavored? Come on Yoplait, you can do it. For me. (Honestly, I like coconut everything. Coconut water, coconut scented shampoo and conditioner, lotion... toasted coconut candles. Coconut lime reed diffusers.. I could go on).
 
I've officially lost more than 40 lbs in the 8 weeks since my surgery. 40.5 to be exact. Last night I told my Dad that. They he had the nerve to ask me what I used to weigh. I'm a classy broad, and a classy broad never reveals her weight to people she knows, lest she have to kill them. Frankly murder is so messy what with all the blood and cleaning up afterward (For the record, I AM TOTALLY KIDDING AND AM NOT A KILLER). My husband doesn't even know my weight. I know my Dad is a big guy too but I'm pretty sure I'm fatter than him and I just cannot have him knowing that I am THAT heavy. I told him I would let him know once I was below 200 lbs what my weight is.

Stopped in at Target after work yesterday. Got a couple of new things to work out in. A new sports bra - its reversible. Workout capris - not reversible, and a tank top with built in support - which is not enough support for my girls. LOL. The tank top is a bit snug in the tummy, but the sports bra fits perfectly and the capris fit nicely too. I'm gonna have to double up on the bra with the tank top. Both are a Target XXL, which is an 18/20. I'm much more certain I'm an 18/20 on top than I am on the bottom. Although some of my 24s are now loose. I'd be willing to bet I'm nearing 22 territory in the bum area
 
I also got in the mail via Amazon, a protective armband for my phone (a Galaxy S5) so that I can lift weights without sticking my phone down my sweaty gross bra (because I cannot workout without my music at the gym. Gym music is universally horrible - unless you go in the morning and then they play classic rock or 80s. Most of the time its all "EDM/technofest/I just took a Molly, yo" when I go in there after work). The armband fits around my arm (yay), and is blue with a reflective strip around it in case I ever exercise outside (which if you knew me you would know that this is laughable since I generally do not do nature because there are critters and bugs and hair frizzing humidity).
 
I plan on really working on my arms tonight. I am wearing this woven top today and the arms on it are tight. Everywhere else on the top fits nicely. But my arms are going to be a real challenge. It seems a disproportionate amount of fat decided to deposit itself in my tricep area. So the more I can do to firm up the muscle and tighten the skin the better. As much as I contemplate plastics in the future, in the present, I am of no financial means to afford them. So rather than worry about financing them, I am just going to hit my tris hard with kickbacks and dips and whatnot.

Stopped in at Target after work yesterday. Got a couple of new things to work out in. A new sports bra - its reversible. Workout capris - not reversible, and a tank top with built in support - which is not enough support for my girls. LOL. The tank top is a bit snug in the tummy, but the sports bra fits perfectly and the capris fit nicely too. I'm gonna have to double up on the bra with the tank top. Both are a Target XXL, which is an 18/20. I'm much more certain I'm an 18/20 on top than I am on the bottom. Although some of my 24s are now loose. I'd be willing to bet I'm nearing 22 territory in the bum area
 
I also got in the mail via Amazon, a protective armband for my phone (a Galaxy S5) so that I can lift weights without sticking my phone down my sweaty gross bra (because I cannot workout without my music at the gym. Gym music is universally horrible - unless you go in the morning and then they play classic rock or 80s. Most of the time its all "EDM/technofest/I just took a Molly, yo" when I go in there after work). The armband fits around my arm (yay), and is blue with a reflective strip around it in case I ever exercise outside (which if you knew me you would know that this is laughable since I generally do not do nature because there are critters and bugs and hair frizzing humidity).
 
I plan on really working on my arms tonight. I am wearing this woven top today and the arms on it are tight. Everywhere else on the top fits nicely. But my arms are going to be a real challenge. It seems a disproportionate amount of fat decided to deposit itself in my tricep area. So the more I can do to firm up the muscle and tighten the skin the better. As much as I contemplate plastics in the future, in the present, I am of no financial means to afford them. So rather than worry about financing them, I am just going to hit my tris hard with kickbacks and dips and whatnot.

I'm down 36.5 lbs since the surgery. This morning I was under 270. Yay! I seem to be losing faster since I edged my way up near 1200 calories. I was very much stalled after that initial 30 lbs fell off. Once all the swelling and fluid came off, I was like.. What now? I think my body just said "look Andrea, give me some more to eat, especially since you insist on burning off at least 300 calories every other day at the gym." Guess the body knows what it wants. Since I go to the gym after work, its nice to have a little something in the tank so that I'm not so tired. I've been lucky in that I do not get nauseated if I go longer than four hours without food. But sometimes I think that trigger would be helpful, so that I remember to eat something. Half a lean cuisine, some cheese.. something. I have lunch at 12:30 (scheduled because my job sucks). I get off work at 5:30. If I'm lucky, I get to the gym by 7. So that half of a lean cuisine at 5pm is helpful.
 
Speaking of the gym, I'm going to need new work out clothes. Everything I wear to the gym is too big - especially the tops. I think it would be most unfortunate if my pants fell down while on the treadmill. Gonna have to put out feelers for cheap cute but still plus size workout clothes that are not from Old Navy (because what they have on line is not that cute right now...)