renewedhope

Sugar, Sounds like you do need an unfill. Being too tight is the pits!! Hope you feel lots better soon. Ok, tomorrow is the big day. Back on track!!!! Who is with me! Let's do this!!!

Way to go Kathy!!!! Onederland is such a huge accomplishment!!! WOOHOO!!!!! I did OK for Thanksgiving. I ate some things I normally wouldn't, but my portions were very small. I am ok with what I chose to eat. I am ready to get back to routine exercise and eating healthy on Monday!!!!

I don't see Renee and Michele leaving anytime soon. They both consistantly pull off great numbers. I hope it's Vicky and Heba next. Stranger things have happened.

welcome Beanie!! Kathy, here is your kick in the butt. Now, in return, would you give me one please. I am so NOT motivated!! I have these last few pounds to lose and I can't seem to get off my butt and do it. Georgia, you are right, carbs are the devil. We are alike in that we both lose really well on low carb, and both pretty much hate doing low carb!! I have got to AT LEAST cut out the sugary bad carbs. Sorry I have been kinda MIA lately. I check everyday, but for some reason haven't taken the time to post much. I don't know why. I am just not very motivated. I have got to get a grip. I have this new wonderful body and DH bought me lots of new clothes. They look really cute. We are having a family picture taken on Friday. We haven't done a family picture since my almost 10 year old was 2. Ok, I know I will eat traditional Thanksgiving dinner. My sisters are both coming and mom is cooking. Anybody want to holding each other accountable to start eating and exercising right starting Monday??? I dont want to toodle through the holidays eating like a little pig and have lots of "old weight" to lose come January. I want to lose new weight!!

I am more hungry on the days I run. Makes sense because you are burning more calories. I just got through eating a little taco soup because I was so hungry tonight. I got a fill today so I was wondering why I am so stinkin hungry. Well, I started back running today. Just be sure that what you put in your mouth is healthy and the extra hunger won't hurt you a bit!!

Thanks Sugar. If felt SOOOO good to run, and it was SOOO hard!!! I couldn't hang with the c25k. I just need my music. I did intervals. I think the longest I ran without walking was 8 minutes. Anyway, here are my nike+ numbers. I ran 2.54 miles in 30 minutes with an average mile of 11'50". Not bad for a first day back at it. I am pretty proud of this tired body of mine. It was really cool to run without my belly flopping!!

I CAN RUN!!!!I saw my doctor today and she removed my last 2 staples. I can resume presurgery activities, carefully, and I CAN RUN!!!!! I no longer have to wear the binder, but I still have to wear the compression garment for 2 to 4 more weeks. I go back to see her in 3 months and she will fix the little pooch on my left hip in the office. Not a big deal. So....I guess I am officially released from the doctor!! Wow, after only 4 weeks. I am very excited. Now its time to get busy with my exercise again so that I can get to goal and stay there. DH and I are going on a shopping date on Saturday. I don't have any clothes to wear. he has never cared about picking out clothes for me, but he is pretty excited. I am VERY excited. Ok, I am putting my Nike+ thing in my ipod and I am off to run!! I think I am going to start the couch to 5k over again just to get me started. I know I need to start slow and that will pace me. I probably won't do a week on each level, but that is my starting place. WOOHOO!!!! I am soooo excited. Oh, I also got another fill today because i can eat a house. Maybe now I will just eat a small shed!! LOL I will check back in after my run!!

I CAN RUN!!!!I saw my doctor today and she removed my last 2 staples. I can resume presurgery activities, carefully, and I CAN RUN!!!!! I no longer have to wear the binder, but I still have to wear the compression garment for 2 to 4 more weeks. I go back to see her in 3 months and she will fix the little pooch on my left hip in the office. Not a big deal. So....I guess I am officially released from the doctor!! Wow, after only 4 weeks. I am very excited. Now its time to get busy with my exercise again so that I can get to goal and stay there. DH and I are going on a shopping date on Saturday. I don't have any clothes to wear. he has never cared about picking out clothes for me, but he is pretty excited. I am VERY excited. I will get him to take some pics this weekend!! Everyone have a great day!!

Way to go sugar!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!

Shalee, you are too funny. Hopefully you will be showering AND talking about sex really soon.

Frangi, So glad you are almost completely healed. What a long recovery this has been for you. Enjoy feling great!! You earned it!!

WOOHOO Mamato!! congrats on the new job and Dh improving. Have a great time on your trip!! I am so excited for you!!

Somehow I knew you would respond to that! LOL!! Well, this is TMI, but last night and today seem to be much better in that department. LOL I guess it is not necessary that I feel "HOT" 24/7. I took and shower and shaved my legs. It's amazing what that will do for your sex drive. Ok, I'm done on this topic.

Sugar, it doesn't bother my band if I sip it very slowly, but I wouldn't say it is a good band choice. That is why I am having it today. Some people can't drink sodas at all. All of us shouldn't. I can drink them very slowly.

Way to go Kathy!!! Today is my last "recovery" day. Tomorrow it is back to real life. I will still take it easily physically, but I have got to get back to eating very healthy like I was presurgery. So....I am going to drink a Strawberry soda today and then only healthy food beginning tommorow. BTW, DH is taking me on a date night either Friday or Saturday to buy new, smaller clothes. This is good incentive to eat healthy this weak. I don't want to be bloated for my date with DH.

Shalee, I am so sorry that you are going through all of this. What an emotional roller coaster. My thoughts and prayers are still with you. Keep us posted. Hoping to hear great news soon!! Renewed

I slept really well with the benadryl. It may just be my new best friend. Ok, here is a rather personal question. When I first got home I really wanted to have sex. Ok, we did, probably sooner than we should. We have resumed sex, but very carefully. Now, at 3 weeks out my libido seems to have disappeared. Why is that??? You would think these changes would cause an increase in my libido, and it did initially, but now the opposite seems to be true. Is it the hormone changes?? Has anyone else experienced this??

I am 5'5'' and I want to be under 150, so I set my goal weight at 145. I want to wear a comfortable size 6-8 depending on how they are made. I haven't bought any new clothes since my surgery and my 10's are baggy so I am thinking i am at an 8. According to my doctor I have 7 pounds left to lose. According to me I have about 16. However, I don't expect these last pounds to drop quickly. More than anything I want to make healthy eating choices and resume my love of running and exercise. When I started this whole journey my goal weight was 180. I wasn't confident that I could reach that. When I got under 200 I moved my goal weight to 150 and then 145. I want to start focusing more on how I look and feel than the number, but that darn number is still so important to me.

You are definately not alone. While I love my new body, I still manage to find and pic out all of the imperfections, and there are still plenty. Just last night I was telling DH that as the swelling goes down I can tell that I still have a little fat on my back. He said "that is very relative". I am very glad I had the tummy tuck, but it seems that the old insecurities rear their ugly heads even more since the surgery. I want to be happy and satisfied in this skin. I don't want to spend the rest of my life wishing that this or that were different. Maybe I can lipo a little here, etc. I didn't think about the hormone changes, but that makes sense. Maybe that's part of it. Having said all of that, I am very glad I made this choice and I am very pleased with my results. I jsut want to learn to appreciate my accomplishments and beauty without always looking to improve on what's here. What an amazing journey this truly is.

Oh yeah, Leslie, what happened to your blog. I miss reading it!!

Kathy, I would rate the pain/discomfort initially at about a 4. Now it is a 1 at the worst. It isn't really pain. In the beginning getting up and down was the worst as with any surgery. The thing I struggle with the most is mentally. The compression garment and binder make me feel closterphobic in my own body if that makes sense. I don't really sleep well at night because I wake up when I move around in the bed. The limited activity makes me afraid I will lose my drive and motivation. I haven't really been following a "diet" lately because this is a healing time not a weightloss time. So, I guess the biggest deal is that I am afraid of falling of the wagon. Having said all of that, I am really doing great. i just have moments. I can sleep on my tummy, back, or side now. I don't have to sleep with pillows under my legs or my wedge under my head. The swelling is much better. Getting up and down is not even difficult. This is TMI, but DH and I have even resumed relations without difficulty, just very carefully. I won't tell you at what point after surgery we resumed that because I would probably be in big trouble with my cybermom, Kathy. LOL Anyway, I love the way my body looks. I can't wait to wear clothes without all these garments underneath. I want to know what I reallyl look and feel like. Ok, that was a book. Probably much more than you asked for, but the main struggles are definately mentally, because physically, I am one pretty tough gal. I just love that we can come to this thread and share our most personal things and have this support. You guys are the best!!! Mamato, I see you. What's the latest on the job??

way to go on the run/walk Sugar. You are doing a great job. It is so good to see you posting regularly again!!

Thanks so much Karey. I will definately do that tonight. I took the steridtrips off my back and that helped a lot, but sleeping at night is the worst part. I seem to have weird dreams lately too. I just don't feel like I am resting well at night. Benadryl and I have a date tonight.:thumbdown: I went to the doctor today and she removed all but 2 staples. The 2 staples are in the center of my back. She said that the area between them doesn't look completely healed. The open area appears superficial, but she doesn't want to take them out and risk it opening up. So...I go back next Thursday to have those 2 taken out. Slowly but surely. BTW, I walked a mile today in 15 minutes. That's a far cry from my 5K time, but at least it's a start. It felt really good to be back at the track. I feel better and better everyday. I can't wait to get rid of the garment and binder, but I have 3 more weeks of that. Not much to report. Just ticking along.

Sounds like a super fun trip Lyn. Glad you are home and doing well. Kathy, glad you can eat again. I have been way too tight once, and when yo feel like spit isn't going to go down it does get kinda scary. I'm glad you seem to have found the balance. Well, the rain is gone and it is beautiful today so DS and I went for a walk. I walked a 15 minute mile! WOOHOO. I felt like I was moving at snail's pace. It's a far cry from a 29 minute 5k but I guess I have to start back somewhere. I tolerated it very well. I can't wait to be running again. I thought about running just a few steps to see how it felt, but I knew DS would tell DH on me so I walked like I am supposed to. I will be 3 weeks out tomorrow. That is 1/2 way through wearing the garments and all the restrictions. WOOHOO, I am 1/2 way there!!

I was so proud of Amy! She is typically not a very strong personality, but she stood up too psychowoman. She is going to pay though. Vicki is just evil. I think she would have even turned on Brady if it would benefit her. I was so disappointed to see Ed win the challenge. I was rooting for Phil then Stacey. By the end of the challenge my heartrate was up. I can't believe how much I got into that challenge. Vicki, Heba and Ed make me want to vomit. You know, people like that don't win. They will be voted off because they are burning too many bridges. Now they are in the minority. Watch Heba turn all nice to try and manipulate votes form the black team, or at least ensure she gets Amy's. Heba and vicki in the bottome 2 next week. How awesome would that be!!