mngreeneyes

If I remember correctly, there are some variables for how fast that all leaves your system. I think length of time you smoked and quantity smoked can make a big difference. I don't know how much you smoked and for how long, but perhaps that actually shows an improvement. I wonder if being around smokers/second hand smoke doesn't affect the speed your body improves. You'll get there. pam

WHOOOHOOOO! Congrats! You are getting so close. pam

Best of luck! pam

My thoughts and prayers are with you. Hope all goes well. pam

Thanks all. I found myself a 20 week essentially couch to super-sprint tri workout plan that I will start in mid April. It is 7-8 workouts a week with increasing length and difficulty so my body won't get too used to any part. Hopefully it will help me continue my weight loss. Its 5.5 months away and I could potentially be down another 50 llbs by then. If that's the case I am also going to need a smaller and cute tri outfit! I will keep you all posted. pam

Thanks for sharing. This is a very important topic for all of us. pam Thanks for sharing. This is a very important topic for all of us. pam

I was thinking that some smart person should figure out how to add those Torani coffee syrups to our Protein shakes to make them taste like thin mints! I used to have some mint flavored syrup. Around here you can buy them and have them shipped to deployed US troops. I haven't been asked yet, but that's going to be my tactic. Be Strong everyone! pam

Well, I did it! I finally did it! I signed up for my first triathlon! Walking/running, biking and swimming have always been my favorite activities, mostly because I didn't have to be overly coordinated to be successful. (I played volleyball, basketball, softball, etc. as a kid, but was terrible.) Because I like all three activities, I have many times thought I would like to try a tri, but knew I wasn't ready for a full tri. One of the women in my WLS support group asked me to try a super-sprint tri with her in August. So today I bit the bullet and paid the fee and I am signed up! For those like me who don't know, a super sprint tri is 200 yards swimming, 7.5 miles biking, and 1 mile run. I figure that should be enough to wear me out but good! I start swimming tonight. Right now 200 yards is quite a ways, but add in open Water and I don't think I'd have a chance. I am a slow but very competent swimmer so the chance of drowning is probably minimal, at least by race time in August. I am hoping with time to train that I might even be able to be competitive! By the time of the race, I will be just under 9 months post-op and will have RUN 3 5Ks. I start serious training after my next 5K on April 9th, but I start swimming again tonight - need to see what I can do to build some endurance already. Anyone else out there done a triathlon? Words of wisdom? Wish me luck! pam

None of my friends and most of my family never commented on how big I was before surgery. Occasionally at work I would get the "you look great in that" or "that outfit looks nice on you" comment, but no one ever told me I was big. Was that because I live in Minnesota and they were being "Minnesota Nice" or was it because they didn't notice or because it didn't matter? I'm not sure I care why they didn't. Before I had surgery I didn't tell a lot of people. A few select coworkers, a few select friends, and my parents and brothers and their families. I just didnt' want to risk the comments. Coincidentally, no one tried to tell me I was too small for surgery! They all were very supportive, except maybe my parents, but that's another story. I have now hit more than 55 lbs lost and yesterday two coworkers that I hadn't told about my surgery commented. One, who I suspect has heard, got on the elevator and did a double take. She said she almost didnt' recognize me because I was melting away before her eyes! (she can be really snarky so I was shocked at her comment!) The second was a coworker who I know lost about 40 lbs a few years ago with low carb and exercise. He and I have lots of mutual friends outside of work and have always been really friendly. He just came out and asked, "have you lost a bunch of weight?" Then he said, that could have been a bad question! I told him about surgery and we talked about our respective journeys. He showed me photos of him before the weight loss. I didn't' know him then. I wouldn't have recognized him. Then he pointed to my photo from new employee orientation 3.5 years ago that was hanging on my file cabinet. He said. "That doesn't look like you anymore!" I hadn't looked at the photo recently and he was very correct. My point with all of this is, I am learning to accept everything as a compliment now because even my snarky coworker could have meant it snarky, but she was still noticing how much I have changed, at least externally! She will likely never know how much I am changing internally and that's just fine. Someday we will look back at photos and people will say "I cant' believe that's you" because all they know/remember will be the healthier version of your former self and they will say similar things to what your BF mother said. Its the truth and its not that there is anyway we didn't know it about ourselves, I think its also a testament to how other people saw us even before surgery. We often feel invisible to the world when we are big, but to most of our friends and family, we are and were just us. My nephew who is 7, before surgery, told his mom that he didn't want me to have surgery because he didn't want me to change. He liked me just the way I am. (I am the favorite aunt and he is precious!) I have seen him several times since surgery and he has had no complaints! I have more energy to play with him and his sisters. We have always gone on walks together, but when I was there in January, I went on THREE walks so that I could hang out with each of the kids separately! We used to just go on one walk all together! We went sledding, we played outside, we had a blast. Surprise does weird things to our filters. Like my coworker who realized AFTER he asked me about my weight loss that the question might have been ill-advised, sometimes our mouths engage before our brains do. If there is one thing I am learning more and more every day, it is that I can't control what other people say or think. I can only control my reaction and my interpretation is a part of that. I "decide" everyday that I am going to put the best spin on everything that comes out of other peoples' mouths. (I don't succeed, but practice makes perfect!) Remember, people show a more honest view of themselves by their actions than their words. It sounds like actions should be able to show you what your BF's mom really meant. Believe her! Best and congrats on your weight loss, pam

I took an entire canister of unjury Protein powder with me to Atlanta the first week of February. I took a new canister so that it was sealed when I went. It pinged the xray machine and they had to look to see what it was, but all they did was wipe the suitcase and container to make sure it wasn't explosives or whatever and I was on my way. On the way home I had the now opened container in my suitcase/carry on and I didn't even get held up in security! I made sure to keep it in the original container just in case, but no one really gave me any trouble flying with it. I had to dump out my Water bottle at both security locations, but nothing with my protein powder! I think you should be fine. pam

I just had my three month followup yesterday. The one big change besides starting to balance my diet was that my NUT really wants me to save my Protein drink for my snack in the afternoon and only on days I workout. I eat three meals a day and a snack if I workout. I had been drinking my protein as Breakfast, but my NUT really wants me to eat regular food with some amount of Fiber now. It will be an interesting change. pam

Congrats. What a great NSV! pam

@della street I am so excited for you. I know the ACA can be a hot button issue on both sides, but I am so thankful for all the good things that have happened for people under ACA. Congrats on your losses, all of your losses - before, during, and after! best, pam

My last boss, I am still in the same job, but she has moved on, was very strict about, if you are sick you go home. About half my department is on a PTO kind of set up and the rest of us are on the vacation/sick leave/etc program. She wasn't really in charge of everyone, but would actually send sick people home over their refusals! I have been sick a lot less than I was even when I was a teacher, although I take more sick days now because when I was a teacher, you had to be nearly on death's door to take a day off because it was so much work to be gone! I agree that sick people need to stay home and quarantine themselves instead of making me sick! pam

I tend to log everything I eat in myfitnesspal.com. It fills the details in for me. It also adds all the nutrition and calories for me so I can't mess up the math. Otherwise, read your nutrition labels. For the cornbread it should be on the box. I assume one piece of cornbread is one serving. I just find it easier and more convenient to let an app/computer program do the figuring for me. Does that help? pam

Oh I almost forgot to mention, my other NSV this week. We had big pants day at my WLS support group meeting. I brought a dress that used to fit really well. (I made it for myself so it was literally made for me!) I always got compliments for how nice I looked when I wore it. None of my support group had ever seen me where it however, but I decided to show them the difference of almost 55 lbs. by slipping it on over my clothes. Even before I could look up from arranging it on myself, the whole room gasped! Aside from the fact that it was about 3 inches longer than it used to be, I couldn't figure out what the shock was about. I had to ask my WLS SG friend sitting next to me why everyone gasped and she said, "because it looked like you were wearing a tent!" I can tell I am smaller, but sometimes I dont' think others can necessarily tell. I don't hear it anyway except from my friends and family who know. But the spontaneous surprise from a whole room of people many of whom had never met me before was priceless! pam

First NSV, the bath towel ends meet! I wrapped my towel around me this week and noticed that for the first time in recent memory, the bath towel wrapped all the way around and met from top to bottom! Of course if I moved, it became indecent, but since I live alone no one was around to worry about! Second NSV, I had to go buy new pants for work for the first time since surgery. I have gone from a 24 pants to now an 18W. I managed to find two pair of serviceable black dress pants WITH POCKETS and no elastic at the consignment store and with my store credit, I paid $7.50 for 2 pair! These should last for at least a month I am guessing before I have to find something smaller again! I have lots of other size 18-20 clothes that fit, but there were no black dress pants in the box in storage. No more mooning anyone when I get out of my desk chair! pam PS I lost about 5 lbs the end of last week and over the weekend, but haven't lost since Monday so I must be "right sizing" this week!

awesome I will move my post over there. pam

A few weeks ago some wonderful person put up a topic about posting NSVs. I enjoyed reading it so much so I thought I would share two of mine from this week to get us started! Happy Friday everyone! First NSV, the bath towel ends meet! I wrapped my towel around me this week and noticed that for the first time in recent memory, the bath towel wrapped all the way around and met from top to bottom! Of course if I moved, it became indecent, but since I live alone no one was around to worry about! Second NSV, I had to go buy new pants for work for the first time since surgery. I have gone from a 24 pants to now an 18W. I managed to find two pair of serviceable black dress pants WITH POCKETS and no elastic at the consignment store and with my store credit, I paid $7.50 for 2 pair! These should last for at least a month I am guessing before I have to find something smaller again! I have lots of other size 18-20 clothes that fit, but there were no black dress pants in the box in storage. No more mooning anyone when I get out of my desk chair! Okay, who else has something for us to Celebrate with them this week? pam PS I lost about 5 lbs the end of last week and over the weekend, but haven't lost since Monday so I must be "right sizing" this week!

Depending on your gym, I believe most places have at least some kind of intro to weightlifting, either one on one or group. I work at a university and workout at the rec center on campus. I just finished my second week of a class called Women and Weights. We get together twice a week for eight weeks. One of the things our trainers have been stressing is that it should be hard, but not to the can't finish your reps and sets heavy. Good luck! pam

This makes me think the delays might not be him. pam

WOW! I wasn't allowed to do anything but walking for the first month after surgery. I am now three months out and I just finished week 1 of the c25k. I walk anywhere from 3.4-3.8 mph and run at 4.3-4.5. Yesterday I was feeling good so on my last running interval I ran most of it (30-45 sec.) at 5 mph. That was REALLY fast for me. I have taken my time since being cleared to run to get my cardio back in shape. I did a lot of walking and increasing my walking speed in the last 2 months. My goal is to run 80-90% of my next 5k on April 9th. I will be setting NO land speed records however! From there I will work on increasing my speed and distance. Just remember, this is not a race. Repeat weeks as necessary and go slow! The fastest way to get an injury, besides flying off the back of the treadmill ( ) is to try to do too much too soon. You have a lifetime to get faster! Good luck and great job! pam

Had you discussed this with your PCP before at any time? Perhaps its time to make an appointment and take the form that they need to sign to the PCP and have them sign it in front of you and give it to you so you can take it or send it back to your surgeon. It could be something going on with the office staff, it might be the PCP doesn't support your decision, it could be a lot of other things. Try one more time with a face to face and then decide if you need to change PCPs. Have you liked this PCP prior to this? pam

I have always heard that the best exercise for burning weight is whatever one you DO. pam

I was amazed how much better I slept after getting my machine and how badly I sleep when the electricity is out or my machine is one the fritz. I am hopeful that I will be able to leave mine behind in the next year or so. PS. When I first got mine I had a mask that just covered my nose, I kept ripping it off at night because my head would get all stuffed up and I couldn't breathe. Once I got a full face mask I was able to use my machine better and it was much more effective. Don't give up if you don't adjust to it right away. Keep asking questions. pam