SleeveinIL

I'm struggling a little. My younger sister wants to go out to a buffet for Thanksgiving so no one has to cook and stress. While I appreciate her sentiment, I also don't want to pay $65 a head (4 ppl in my family) especially since I can't eat much AND buffets are so difficult to deal with overeating. I told my sister after thinking about it that buffets aren't okay for me. She seemed to understand, but was disappointed. Am I being selfish by not going along with the plan? I purchased a turkey to cook and I can make sides that are bariatric friendly. Sigh, this one is bothering me. I might be emotionally low right now because my dog passed away recently and that is contributing to my thinking.

Saw the surgeon yesterday. He is very pleased with my loss thus far. I am averaging about 10 lbs a month. Turns out my nutritionist and my surgeon have vastly differing ideas on how many calories I should be eating right now. Nut put me on 1K a day. Surgeon said nope, they are wrong, go to 800/day. Too bad I have been following what the Nut advised. I could have lost more weight already. Oh well, I will do it now! I am also going to add another day of working out to help break this stall I have been in since 8/28. I am very happy as this week I was able to get into a size XL shirt and I am wavering on pants sizes, but I am wearing a lot of size 18 that are too big or are getting too big. The inches are still dropping off nicely. I saw my parents for the first time after a long time this past weekend (they live out of state) and my Dad who never says anything gave me some super nice compliments. My sister also did...her words as we were trekking through the airport on a long upward ramp were along the lines of "Before the mind was willing but the body wasn't. Now your mind and body are in sync. Before we would have had to have stopped at least once and now you aren't even phased by this." What a great thing to have someone recognize. 

Today I hit 216 and officially weigh less than my husband. That hasn't happened ever in our relationship and I am celebrating this exciting first! Small victories like this keep me going. 

Stall is finally broken and I am losing again. Stalls suck but I understand them much better now. I am still feeling great and have kicked my workouts up a notch. I went to an arm/abs class that turned out to be all men and "me".  The dudes walked in with their 30 lb hand weights and I have my little 7.5/10 lbs and I was thinking to myself...what did I get myself into, and am I going to embarrass myself?  Well I decided to stick it out and although I couldn't do everything the dudes were doing, I did a pretty darn good job of keeping up and I am proud of myself for being able to stick with it. I decided I am going back again tomorrow and I am going to kill it again. I belong there too! 

Yesterday I had a close friend warn me about not working out "too much". I work with a personal trainer 2x/week and I get about a total of 75 - 90 min of exercise 3 days a week. All in all I think I should be doing MORE. I wasn't sure how to react other than thanking them for their concern but my doctor approved my workout plan. This person has been very supportive, has given me 4 bags of smaller sized clothing to help me on my journey. I try not to talk about my workouts in general as people don't want to really hear about it if they aren't also working out. It is interesting how those that support you the most also don't really understand what is required to make this program work.   

Today I am officially halfway to the goal weight that I have set for myself. I have lost a total of 84 lbs and I have 84 more to lose to get to my goal. Trying to celebrate the small wins. 

I am struggling right now.  I am working out 4.5 hours a week and it hasn't felt good for the last 2 weeks.  Feels more like a chore and I don't know why.  I am still going but it has been a fight. Corresponding to this I have also been wanting to eat - eat everything we aren't supposed to eat. I have held back for the most part but I have splurged - full sugar vanilla pudding cup, I had a chocolate chip cookie and tortillas. I even stopped tracking my food. I am back on track, but I feel really down right now. I am already seeing someone, and it helps, but wow I am not feeling like myself. I am hoping this is a passing phase. I don't want these feelings to continue. Sigh... 

Staying in the hospital stinks. Was there for some unidentified intestinal issue. I was miserable.  Couldn't eat or drinks.  Was on fluids and 2 broad spectrum antibiotics. Had to speak with the infectious disease doctor twice while I was there. When I was released from the hospital we still had no answers and I was up 7 lbs due to all the fluids. Within a couple of days I was back to my starting weight. Whew! I took the whole week off of work. I was wiped out. Still feel that way today but can't afford any more time off right now. I missed the forums, but everything was an effort so I didn't open my laptop once last week! I see my doctors on Thursday so we shall see when I can work out again. I want to tell everyone how fast you can become dehydrated post-surgery. Drink, drink, drink!

Saw an orthopedic doc for my bad knee. Said I am a candidate for knee replacement surgery. Back story - tore the meniscus in 2013 and had to have surgery. It has been bone on bone since then). He wants to prolong the life of my current worn down knee and postpone surgery as long as possible as I am only 48 years old. I ended up with a cortisone shot. (Already did the rooster comb shots) This is my last change for pain reduction so I can keep moving, enjoying exercising and life again. He told me it will take a bit before it kicks in, and I am praying that I get some relief! 

I just completed my first 30 minute work out with a trainer. We did whole body weights and the trainer pushed me in a good way. I am heading back to the fitness center later to get my cardio on as I had a conference call to run to, but I feel so accomplished. I was able to do all the exercises, albeit some were really tough. I could actually pull my knee to my chest! Can we talk high and low planks? WOW! Takes a lot of core strength which I definitely need to improve upon. So I signed up with this trainer to meet 2x/week to help keep me accountable. Here is the other thing...I was worried about breaking wind while I was doing all this exercising but thankfully it didn't happen. I am so gassy these days and I feel like I can't control it. I wonder if I am alone with this issue...

My "baby" turns 14 today. This year I give her the gift of a mother who can do things with her now that I couldn't before. 

I am down from a size 28 to a solid 20. I can even fit into some 18/20s. The motivation I feel when I see myself in these smaller clothes is incredible. I almost don't recognize myself because the transformation is pretty drastic. I met with a personal trainer yesterday that they offer at my office's fitness center and got some basic info. He is going to give me 2 free "trial" sessions if I sign up for at least 2 additional sessions. I am pretty sure I am going to sign up. I am making this the summer of SleeveinIL! I can't be the mother, wife, caregiver and anything else I want/need to be unless I am healthy. Food is fuel! I see the scale moving again and that is also very motivating for me as well. NSV this week...taking a bath (first since before surgery) and my behind and thighs weren't mashed up against the sides of the tub not allowing the water to flow between the front and the back of the tub. The water was able to move around and nothing of me touched the sides of the tub unless I physically moved my legs there. This surgery is giving me some confidence back for sure. I even updated my photo at work because I don't look like that anymore!   

I had a great morning. Weighed in and am at 239. Finally went from Morbidly Obese to Severely Obese.  Who knew celebrating obesity is a thing?  LOL Saw the nutritionist today. She is very pleased with my weight loss since my last visit which is 15 lbs. I have been remiss in taking my iron since the whole bathroom impaction deal and she wants me to get back on it due to the anemia I have. I promised her I would. All in all the appointment went well. On another note, I have also noticed increased hair loss the last few days. I know it is normal, but having previously lost my hair due to chemo, I am not a fan of losing any again. Let's hope it is just a few more than the normal shedding. I am taking Biotin and Horsetail but that doesn't seem to impact the loss. I am up to 45 min on the elliptical or the treadmill and free weights on the upper body several times a week. It feels good except for my bad knee I need to have that checked out again. Oh, one last observation, I am now under 100 lbs of weight left to lose to my goal weight. It is the weight I chose, not a weight that was determined by my doctors. I am very curious what they think my goal weight should be.  I'm going to make a note to ask about that at my next appointment. 

Another NSV - I am hitting either the elliptical or treadmill for 45 min in a row. I also am doing weights for my bat wings (the back of my arms) lol. I honestly would have never been able to exercise this long before. I was straining after 10 minutes. My work offers personal trainers in the workout facility (for a fee) and I am considering it to help me maximize my time working out. I don't want to always do cardio but I am not sure what weight exercises to do now.

On another note, yesterday after my last meeting I went down to the fitness center and worked out. I didn't text home and ask if I could, I just took the time and did it and told them to start dinner without me. I got home at my normal time and it really didn't bother me that I didn't "ask permission" to take care of myself. I actually put myself first for once.   

NSV today. I have been wearing my size 26 jeans which have been getting roomy. So today I decided to try on my size 24 Lane Bryant jeans and see if I could get into them. Not only can I get into them, they are also loose. That made me feel super happy this morning. Weight is still 243 but the inches are definitely moving. 

I just saw my oncologist this morning (I had stage 2A breast cancer) and my CBC labs are now showing I am anemic. I have fought this before on and off caused from the chemo/radiation, however, I wonder how much of this is now related to the sleeve? Oncologist didn't want me to change any of my vitamins/meds so I am going to lob a call to the surgeon. I am not looking to increase my iron because it really messes up my bathroom stops. The good news is my oncologist was really proud of my accomplishments so far with my WL. I love positive feedback! He told me that there are 11 cancers that are directly linked to obesity. It was this doctor that made me go from thinking about WLS to having my WLS. I am doing this for me.

Bouncing around 243-245 and can't seem to break this stall. Since the month after surgery I haven't lost more than a few pounds. I am tracking my food and getting enough protein (I weigh everything), I have increased my workouts and I am now doing cardio and elliptical for a min of 40 minutes/day as well as weight lifting. I am drinking about 55 - 65  oz of water. I am staying at the 600 - 800 calories as recommended by my surgeon. What is the magic required to drop these pounds? On the positive side, I have energy and am able to move around a whole lot better. I feel good and that says a lot.  This week I had 2 people at work notice and told me I am melting away.  So things are moving, just can't get that scale to budge!!!

Brain dump and rambling...Here I am 7.5 weeks post op and I am stuck at the same 25lb weight loss that I have had for the last 3.5 weeks. I am feeling down, dejected and frustrated with lack of movement on the scale. I am able to get into a lot of clothes and shoes that were troublesome before so I have had some non-weight related wins, but I am ready to scream about the lack of weight loss. I have upped my calories, lowered my calories, increased my exercising and I am hitting all my numbers for protein. I am still having issues with bathroom visits and vitamins making me feel sick to my stomach. On another note, nothing I eat makes me feel sick other than the aforementioned vitamins, no nausea at all from any foods.  I seriously keep asking if I even had the surgery completed because I feel the same. I feel hungry and I FEEL THE SAME as before surgery. I am afraid I am going to be stuck here at 245lbs and not make any more progress. Did I choose the wrong surgery? Should I have done bypass instead of sleeve? Time will tell. Sigh - not a good day for me.