MSinger

Surgery in 8 hours!!! My emotions are all over the place. Prayers please and thanks. Praying for you all as well.

It's been awhile. No reason, I just haven't been feeling anything lately. A lot happening on the personal aspect of life but overall still good.
I have finally reached a true stall. My body weight has been fluctuating between 201 lbs - 205 lbs. Slightly frustrated because my second goal is 200 lbs. I am almost there but this stall is kicking my butt. 
Went for a follow up. Nothing special except I was told I was not eating enough like I used to. It is funny because eating a lot is what got me to need the surgery and now I do not eat enough. They are right though. With me working early mornings, I can eat once maybe twice a day and then sleep the remainder of the day and do it all over again (do note: I am not a morning person). The only time I would eat a third meal this past week is on Gym day. I would eat something small once I am done working out (protein bar or protein shot) and then I head home to sleep. My new bedtime is around 5 - 6pm since I have to be up at 3:00am to start getting ready. 
So I am going to end on a good note though. A smile that has not left my face since finding out the news.....(backstory): I worked on a project at work that made sure all the integrations went in smoothly upon setup of our new system. My manager took credit for the integration and tried to change people's imagine a me at work (combative, aggressive, failing to perform, you know the usual). Fast forward a few months. The company is opening a new branch and office and she was away for two weeks doing the integration there and upon launch it flopped. Everything that could go wrong did. Oh how Upper Management mad with her since they had to delay the launch. Everytime he comes out of a meeting she looks stressed. Everything she did to me, she is getting in return. Karma Karma Karma! 

Slowed down my exercise regimen. I'm planning on only going to the gym 3-4 days a week now instead of 7. Also, I started drinking gatorade during my workouts instead of water. I'm feeling great and have so much more energy now!

Three weeks post op. Down 18lbs as of this morning.

I am looking forward to the cooler weather the Fall will bring. I say this as I am sitting here cooling down from my run. The humidity really kills me, but I hate treadmills so I will continue to endure.
 This morning I found the pace that feels like you could run forever and I started going over how my life has improved since last year at this same time. I weighed in the 250's with my highest known weight 255. I wasn't weighing much then because I was disgusted with myself. I had let carbs back into my diet and my weight and blood sugars were out of control. I couldn't understand why I could go 4-6 weeks and then I would just give up. I now know why. My body was fighting me every step of the way. I kept fighting though, and found a new endocrinologist who agreed to change my thyroid medication and help get my diabetes under control. I had to wait 6 months to get an appointment with him, but it was worth it. I saw him in Nov. 2016 and he was the first doctor to suggest WLS. He put the idea in my head and I told him I would think about it. He saved my life that day by having the courage to be honest with me about my weight without judging me or making me feel like the failure I thought I was. The truth hurts sometimes, but it also motivates us, or at least it did me. I was going to be put on insulin if my A1C did not come down to below 7 on my next test in April. 
Having WLS surgery gave me the metabolism reset I needed. My body is no loner fighting me every step of the way. I realized this morning that I am 74 pounds lighter than I was last summer and this is a miracle. I am on my way to being healthier, stronger, fitter, and happier in my 50's than I ever was in my 40's. 
I won't go back to last year ever. I know I can't see the future and what it holds. I know my journey won't be easy and I will stumble and fall, but I am certain with all of my being that I am moving forward and never back. As long as I keep getting up I am strong.
Have a great Monday everyone!

Wonderful Onederland!!!  My stall finally broke.  Saturday I was 199 and this morning I stepped on the scale habitually (I was going to wait a week to enjoy 199, hopefully  without seeing 200 creep back in there somehow) and I weighed 197.  Thanks for all the support and assistance getting me through what was one of the most emotionally painful stalls, EVER!!!!

Today is my second year surgiversary  best decision I ever made. My body change alot i still have some stuff i have to get used to but still working on my body.... 187 pounds less 

As I was running this morning I was thinking. I am enthusiastic and determined after having WLS to get healthy and increase my fitness. I am doing this for me and no one else. The negativity and sometimes downright stupidity that I read on here does not have to impact me at all. 
So as much as I think I could help some others I am not going to enter into the craziness. I am going to stick with my status and the thread my friend and fellow sleeve sister @Newme17 started. 
Running is getting easier day by day. I ran 1.5 miles today with no walk breaks. I think I am done with walking.... it feels so good to say that.
Have a great day everyone!!

Month 2 is in the books! I am 8 weeks out today and weighed in this morning. Down 4lbs for the month. It's not the number I was hoping for, I had a few struggles this month and fell off the wagon a couple of times. I also had to play around with my eating program a bit, but I feel I have figured out what my sleeve needs. Eating 6x a day and limiting the number of calories I eat per meal has been working well.
Activity-wise, I'm plugging away with my daily walks. My activity tolerance is slowly improving and I'm not as dizzy as I have been, but I'm not trying to push it. I'm still heavy enough to feel small injuries. What I hope is that as I lose more weight the activity will come more easily for me. For now, I learned not to feel guilty or compare myself to others. As long as I am losing I'm doing ok. I also noticed that days I push myself too hard physically my hunger goes crazy. I'd rather take it easy on activity than to eat back all of my progress. 
Going into month 3, I feel like I have my eating program, activity program, and my food tracking figured out. I just need to stay focused and keep plugging away. I am happy that my weight is down for the month, but I'm hoping for a better loss next month. Let's do this!

I'll be 9 months post op this week, 90lbs down.  I've been stalled at 200lbs since 07/01/2017, just waiting for the descent into Onderland.  Staying on plan and working out 5 days a week since mid-June and nothing...not an ounce.  Was looking over my fitbit data today and noticed that since the first my body fat percentage has dropped from 42.5 to 37.2%, so that's something!

Post op Day 22...
So the dreaded stall is here....first I was angry,sad,depressed. I think I might have gone through every emotion possible in a matter of a few days...oh lets add confusion. I have been reading too much into other peoples journeys and I simply must stop. I took a break from FB, next might be insta.....then today I was just researching more about the stall and I found a thread were this woman made perfect sense....
"Please remember, Weight Loss Surgery is NOT a diet, it’s a lifestyle change which requires patience, diligence, mindfulness, change of old habits, etc.; it’s not a quick fix. It really does sound like you are doing very well and you just need to keep going and be kind and loving to yourself and embrace your success right where you are."
I have been expecting fast results when my body is still healing, my wounds are not even all the way closed up. I am doing more damage by fretting or physicking myself out. I need to relax and continue with my new lifestyle and give it to the Lord. My body is so tired, I get tired in the shower washing my hair. I also think I am about to have a visit from Aunt Flow....so maybe that is playing a part. I felt more bloated and have been having those hunger pains more (usually I eat more during my time of the month) I also saw some candy and wanted it. I only liked candy during my time of the month.
Also there are a few people on this site who like to give backhanded compliments. Or even advice, this site does have wonderful information but sometimes the threads can go crazy and too many people have an opinion. Just going to keep doing what I am doing and walk more. I have been doing my correct water intake and staying within my approved foods. 
I hope everyone has a wonderful day! 

Month 2 is in the books! I am 8 weeks out today and weighed in this morning. Down 4lbs for the month. It's not the number I was hoping for, I had a few struggles this month and fell off the wagon a couple of times. I also had to play around with my eating program a bit, but I feel I have figured out what my sleeve needs. Eating 6x a day and limiting the number of calories I eat per meal has been working well.
Activity-wise, I'm plugging away with my daily walks. My activity tolerance is slowly improving and I'm not as dizzy as I have been, but I'm not trying to push it. I'm still heavy enough to feel small injuries. What I hope is that as I lose more weight the activity will come more easily for me. For now, I learned not to feel guilty or compare myself to others. As long as I am losing I'm doing ok. I also noticed that days I push myself too hard physically my hunger goes crazy. I'd rather take it easy on activity than to eat back all of my progress. 
Going into month 3, I feel like I have my eating program, activity program, and my food tracking figured out. I just need to stay focused and keep plugging away. I am happy that my weight is down for the month, but I'm hoping for a better loss next month. Let's do this!

Hi everyone! I'm me and nervous. I just turned 60 years old. I think I'm officially grown up now. I'm young at heart, goofing around with my grandchildren all nine of them. I have had crohns disease since I was 19'years old. I still managed to make it through nursing school and more ask retired after 35 years. My husband and I have custody of three of our grandchildren after our son in law died and our daughter ran away. One of the things I would like to run by the members is my feeling of selfishness about having this gastric sleeve. I'm overweight, diabetes, hip replacement and crohns. I feel that if I didn't make it through surgery, it would absolutely devastate the grandkids again! I never thought I could even have a sleeve done due to having all of my colon and rectum removed. So, I have an ileostomy. I have a huge hernia at the site. I went to Duke University and the gastroenterologist suggested I have weight loss surgery because if he repairs the hernia, the weight will cause it to come back. I'm scheduled in three months. 

Post op Day 20...
I haven't posted an update for a few days because I was feeling blue. Mostly TBH- having a pity party because the scale had not moved in a few days. I also was reading too many post on here and sometimes I would compare myself to others, or chastise myself for not counting the calories more. But honestly most of the food I I have been eating is at 1/2 a cup or less. I have found for me to get in my protein I am needing to continue to drink at least 1 Premier Protein drink  a day. Sometimes I also add an isopure, because I am so scared of not meeting that goal. Plus I noticed some hair coming out in the shower...not much. But it has been soooo long since I lost hair (to be exact since 2010 when I had my son) My husband has been so helpful...and encouraging. Last night I made vegetarian chili with three different types of beans. It was much more satisfying then having a little bit of sweet potato (which I never liked until after surgery) I do not really care for my post op diet. It has me eating a lot of  low fat cheese/ diary products and beans. I am not really a fan of diary to begin with. I am just getting tired of not having real protein I suppose. I am ready for some grilled chicken!! On a side note after I cooked dinner and read my son a book I got on the treadmill....I am noticing I cannot walk as long (my back starts killing me and my tummy hurts) but at least I walked. I know this isn't very motivational but I want to remember the highs and lows. 

Month 2 is in the books! I am 8 weeks out today and weighed in this morning. Down 4lbs for the month. It's not the number I was hoping for, I had a few struggles this month and fell off the wagon a couple of times. I also had to play around with my eating program a bit, but I feel I have figured out what my sleeve needs. Eating 6x a day and limiting the number of calories I eat per meal has been working well.
Activity-wise, I'm plugging away with my daily walks. My activity tolerance is slowly improving and I'm not as dizzy as I have been, but I'm not trying to push it. I'm still heavy enough to feel small injuries. What I hope is that as I lose more weight the activity will come more easily for me. For now, I learned not to feel guilty or compare myself to others. As long as I am losing I'm doing ok. I also noticed that days I push myself too hard physically my hunger goes crazy. I'd rather take it easy on activity than to eat back all of my progress. 
Going into month 3, I feel like I have my eating program, activity program, and my food tracking figured out. I just need to stay focused and keep plugging away. I am happy that my weight is down for the month, but I'm hoping for a better loss next month. Let's do this!

It had to be the shoes!!! I can walk with a semblance of normalcy today. So I threw them. Won't spend $150 on a pair that was supposed to be good for me again. I was fitted and my walk was tested too.  So, I'll stick to New Balance or something at a dept store from now on. 
 

I noticed something this morning, I haven't been checking my blood sugar as often as I usually do. It has been my habit for the past 3.5 years to check it as soon as I get up and 2 hours after eating either lunch or dinner. I am falling out of the habit because every time I check, it is awesome. I checked my meter just now and my 30 day average is 88 with N=37. In the past N would have been at least 60, but usually closer to 70. I guess I am getting more confident in the realization that I really don't need to take any medications to have a stable, great,and completely normal non-diabetic blood sugar reading.
I ran my longest distance this morning 2.5 miles. My pace is still really slow because I am running for 5 minutes and walking for 1.5 minutes, rinse and repeat. I am ahead of schedule with the C25K. When the program tells me my workout is complete to begin cool down, I run another segment of run/walk. I just don't feel ready to stop and want to increase my mileage. I am amazed at how energetic I feel on the days I run as opposed to my rest days. Yesterday I was a sloth all day. Saturday is my Sabbath day so I observe the day of rest completely.The only thing I did yesterday was go to church, post here, and read. I felt sluggish all day. I have decided I need to watch less TV. It just encourages me to be lazy. I am going to limit my time in front of the TV to 1 hour every other day. I want to be more productive in other areas of my life and this is one way to do it. 
Have a great Sunday everyone!

Had my 3rd diet visit today (which is a restart in the process since I missed 2 appts) and it went very well. I lost 10.58 pounds (4.8 kg) since my last visit of April 28, about 10 weeks ago. They were very proud and encouraging. I talked a long time with the NP (bless her patience!) about some of my fears and anxieties about getting surgery and besides giving me lots of good info she reminded me that since I still have five visits to go before we can submit for approval, I have plenty of time to make decisions.
I am enjoying the new protein-focused diet which I find easy to stick to at the moment, and I am swimming every day which is also helping! Between the nutrition changes, therapy, and sleeping a bit better I am feeling pretty positive about my chances for success.
It looks like December is totally out for surgery since my final visit with the surgeon is 12/15 and the NP said it's 3-4 weeks for approval usually. So looking at the middle or end of January at the earliest. That will change some of my plans for school, but thankfully I planned ahead and I already have all the classes I need to transfer in the fall, so I can just take online or half-semester courses to allow for some downtime in Jan & Feb. I do need to be enrolled in at least 6 credits to keep some of my merit-related things in place, but I think I'll find something that works.
So once I get approved, they schedule a pre-op visit with anesthesia to get cleared for surgery and I will attend a class that gives all the nitty gritty about post-op care and diet. That will also be the start of the 2-week liquid diet which will continue for 2 weeks after surgery (or 3 weeks if I change to the VSG). I'm really looking forward to getting to this stage! I'm at 362.75 pounds at the moment and between the liquid diet and my pre-op diet changes, I would love to hit the operating table at 299. Can I do it in six months??????
Sorry for the rambling update! Hope everyone has a great weekend, and stay cool out there!!!!

7/8 - Extremely healthy keto day. 
7/9 - Halo Top 1/2 Cup Chocolate Mocha Chip (I am in heaven!!). Healthy keto day. Weighed in at 208.4 lbs. Gained 1.4 lbs  
7/10 - Hung out at Coney Island with my Mom, little Brother and my dog Buddy aka Rasta Scoobs. At Nathans Philly Chicken with no bun. The guy gave me the nasty look when I ordered it. (It was like really, you are going to come here and want to eat healthy at Nathans?). With a nasty tone, he says, "It's going to be the same price and the same amount of meat." So in an even nastier tone, I said, "Did I ask about the amount of meat or the price? No. I asked for a Philly Chicken with No Bun. Thank you." He just placed my order and my brother says, "Don't be surprise if you find some special sauce or a hair floating around in it lol."
7/11 - Keto Day. Decided to step on the scale and weighed 205.4 lbs. I was like WTF!!! What is going on? At this point my weight is fluctuating up and down. I think I maybe starting stall soon and my body is warning me. It could also be water weight. 
7/12 - Another Keto Day. Went out to eat with my mom and brother and I was upset because I could have the Tacos of Bell. My mom keeps saying, "Oh you have your meal prep and you have been doing so good on your diet. Taco Bell is not good for you." I was like then why are you eating it. She says, "I'm grown and your mama. Do as I say and not as I do."  She is right but sooo annoying sometimes. 
7/13 - My day was healthy. Received two new Hidrate Spark bottles. Gave one to my mom and brother. They are in love and I set them up on their phones. 
Breakfast: 2 egg whites boiled with salt. 
Snack: 2 pickle slices
Lunch 1 - 2 : 2.1 oz of turkey with a tomatoes, a little cheese, romaine lettuce and my special dressing. (Broken up into 2 meals)
Snack: 21 olives. 
Dinner 1 - 2: 4 oz of ground beef, a little cheese, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and salsa. (Broken up into 2 meals)
 
 
 
 
 

So far surgery is a success.  I'm on liquids 'clear' and 'full' until day 17, then I start blending all my food...haha, yay? I've tried very small pieces of a few soft solid foods. It takes about 2 minutes for everything to register that it is being rejected.. Then I throw it up about 15 times, rather unpleasant. So suffice to say, it has been easy to stick to liquids like I'm supposed to   Thick cream soups kind of have the safe effect. Protein shakes however, are going down, slowly, but going down none the less. Down 12lbs since surgery 8 days ago. Even received compliments, the "your face looks skinnier" compliment. It's odd but I'll take it   

Well, all the status posts on AM workouts had me in the mood to try my hand at it again. I believe this was the first time I've taken a morning walk as a post op. It went.. ok. I really loved it for the same reasons I liked it preop, but I didn't drink enough water before I headed out the door and came back home very dizzy. So I'm gonna try again tomorrow, but this time I'll make sure I'm better hydrated before going out.

Well, all the status posts on AM workouts had me in the mood to try my hand at it again. I believe this was the first time I've taken a morning walk as a post op. It went.. ok. I really loved it for the same reasons I liked it preop, but I didn't drink enough water before I headed out the door and came back home very dizzy. So I'm gonna try again tomorrow, but this time I'll make sure I'm better hydrated before going out.

Well i am officially out of the 300 club, and I couldn't be happier!

Just got back from a whirlwind STL to DC road trip and I am exhausted!  Back at the gym and back at work today!  No weight gained, but no loss either.  Stuck at 200 lbs.  Come on Onderland!!!

So I used to do Pilates and loved the feeling of being stretched and limber afterwards. I decided to do a quick Pilates video and the first move was to lay down on the floor on your back and pull up your legs at a 90 degree angle. Easy enough right? Not when it feels like your tailbone is sitting on top of a metal rod!!!! I couldn't lay down properly. So I tried the next move, lay on your side to lift your top leg up and forward. OUCH! It hurt my hip bone!!! Then I rolled over to the other side to check, felt the same. Am I destined to get my stretches one standing up? Hurts way too much to be laying on my bones, they feel bruised and/or like I said, laying on a metal rod. Anyone else have this happen to them? Maybe it's weight loss? Maybe it's my age? I don't know!