Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful new year. I've been quite busy the last two weeks, we started our celebration on Christmas Eve and were back and forth visiting family every day until the Sunday after New Years. Jeff is back and work and everyone is back home and now that the dust has settled I can finally update my blog.

Nothing fantastic to report in the way of weight loss. I have hit my first stall and it has lasted several weeks. I have lost a few pounds in the last three and a half weeks but not many. In the first 6 weeks I lost 66lbs and in the last three I have lost 8. In total I am down 74 lbs. It is frustrating to get on the scale and see it continue to hover in the same place, but I know this is normal and will pass. I upped my calories at the request of my doctor who felt I was losing too quickly and I think that might be what has trigged the stall, my body needs to adjust to the new number of calories. The good news is that now that the weight loss has slowed I can get started with exercise.

I seem to have come down with an after Christmas cold and I am still experiencing problems with pain in my tailbone. I go to the orthopedic doctor on Tuesday so hopefully after that I will have a plan to manage the pain so I can start exercising.

Even though the scale isn't moving I am noticing other changes. My wedding rings are very loose, in another few weeks I am going to have to come up with some way to keep them on my finger or stop wearing them until I have them resized. My feet are smaller, I have gone down an entire shoe size. On one hand this makes me sad because I have quite the shoe collection, but on the other hand gives me an excuse to get all new shoes. I no longer get winded going up and down the stairs, I'm not quite sure when this happened but i've been noticing lately that it doesn't bother me at all.

I am enjoying and being home and stress free while I work on deciding what I want to do with my life now. I am taking better care of myself now than I ever have.

My nieces came to visit for Christmas and I had so much energy, no more getting wiped out in the middle of the day and suggesting we watch a movie. As a matter of fact, I think they gave up and wanted quiet time before I did. I can't wait to see them this summer when I will truly be a different person.

Before the surgery my hormones were not normal and it caused all kinds of crazy symptoms, it seems that only nine weeks out, these problems are resolving themselves. I'm am cautiously hopeful that it will put Jeff and I well on the path to being able to have children (In nine months and two weeks of course).

What I'm eating

I cheated a little over the holidays and ate some things that were not recommended with my diet. Tostitos and guacamole and bread with butter, though it is hard to cheat very much when your stomach is the size of a walnut. I am back on the plan now and hope that my weight loss starts up again soon. I think it will slow to a more reasonable rate at this point and won't I won't continue to lose a pound a day. The first two months gave me a big boost though.

Chicken and cheese are still a daily staple. I was getting bored with eating the same old thing and I starting making some kind of flavored chicken dish and then eating it for every meal until its gone, it certainly adds variety.

I was eating a lot of La Creme yogurt but it started to disagree with my stomach and so now I have switched to Yoplait light.

Beverages are still the bane of my existence and I struggle with what I can drink. Right now I am making it work with Special K tea flavored protein water, V8 Fusion Light, decaf coffee, milk and hot cocoa. All of those things seem to sit well with me. We currently have a very large stockpile of V8 in our garage.

I was never a cereal eater before surgery but after surgery I have found myself wanting it. I was pleased to discover that Special K has six grams of protein, when I eat it with milk it actually makes a pretty healthy snack.

My next endeavor is going to be meringue cookies, since they are made with egg whites and I can use Splenda instead of sugar they might be a perfect low calorie, high protein snack and I love meringue cookies.

Weight Stall

My weight loss is stalled and has been for the last two weeks. This is common and normal, but doesn't stop me from feeling frustrated. I must continue to eat because If eat less then my body will truly go into starvation mode. I am going to up my protein and my fluids and see if that helps.

Meet My Feet

They have been a mystery to me for such a long time.. You will notice that scale shows my weight at 290lbs which brings my total eight loss to seventy pounds! I am still stalled and have not lost anything in two weeks, but I'm sticking to the plan and hope it works.

So why a post about my feet? For months before the surgery my feet would swell, and they would look like I had some type of medical condition or really fat feet. To cope, I got pedicures, I stretched my shoes, limited what I would wear and chose flip flops whenever I could. The swelling I once had is now completely gone and I have back what I think are my cute little feet. The only bad news is that now none of my shoes fit properly and I'm pretty much forced to wear flip flops or buy new shoes. (Not that I mind the flip flops :-))

Dumping Syndrome

"Dumping Syndrome: Whereby stomach contents move too rapidly through the small intestine. Symptoms include nausea, weakness, sweating, faintness, and, occasionally, diarrhea after eating, as well as the inability to eat sweets without becoming so weak and sweaty that the patient may have to lie down until the symptoms pass."

I have thought up until today that I would be one of the lucky ones that did not dump. I was wrong. Tonight I ate 1/4 of an apple with about a Tbs. and a half of peanut butter. I finished and knew immediately something was wrong. My stomach was gurgling I felt nauseous and weak and really tired. PB was on my safe food list and I used the low sugar kind as well, but apparently it did not agree with my body and it will be quite a while before I try that again.

Surgery Side Effects

Tailbone Pain

I did not know this before the surgery but a common complication is pain in the tailbone. Apparently you are losing weight so rapidly that your body just cannot keep up and compensate for the weightloss. My muscles don't support my spine the way they use to and I have a lot less padding (well less maybe not a lot less :-)) and so my tailbone hurts constantly. It is not just a nagging ache either, the pain can be quite bad at times. It is worse because it is not really an area you can rest unless I want to spend all day lying on my stomach. I have to go in next week for an x-ray to rule out any other problems and if everything is fine they will talk about treatment options. They involve cortisone injections, core muscle exercises and if the pain is really intense an epidural in your spine to block the nerves while the muscles catch up. Sounds worse than it is and while I am not exaclty comfortable now, if this is the worse that happens I will still be thrilled with the surgery. Honestly, even if I knew about this before hand it would not have changed my mind.


Hair Loss

I have worried a lot about losing my hair. It is always something I liked and didn't want it to drastically change. At this point if it happens it happens, but im hoping it does not. I have noticed I am losing a bit more hair than usual so I'm taking pictures so I can compare later.

Two Month Pictures

I figured it would be easiest if I kept all of the comparison photos in one post. You can see my two month photos here:

http://myrnyjourney.blogspot/2008/12/as-promised-pictures_06.html

But here are some other's I took so you can see the changes in my face;

New Year's Resolutions

I think I have resolved to lose weight every year for the past ten years, and while there have been minor victories nothing has ever lasted. As I lose the weight I am shedding the old me, the one that held herself back from doing the things she wanted to do. I have felt restless the last week, I think maybe it is from all the changes happening in my life. I've been cleaning and organizing, searching for new hairstyles, trying on old clothes. I think what I need is a project to channel my energy into, so first I will get the house in tip top shape and then move on to my next project, furthering my career.

So what am I resolving to do this year:

Exercise three times a week.
Take my vitamins.
Be true to myself and put my family first.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and happy holidays and I wish you all a wonderful new year.

More Before and After (Do you know this girl?)

I used to know her, a long time ago. This morning when I woke up I snapped a picture. No make up, bed head, and something really wacky going on with my eyebrows. When I compare this picture to a picture taken on my wedding day, it hardly looks like the same person to me.

Weight loss update

I believe I have entered what will be my first stall. I have lost 60lbs, but have not lost anything in the last five days. I am told this is normal and the scale will start moving again soon. This weekend I begin exercising and I think that will do wonders to get the scale moving.

What I'm eating now:

I'm still eating everything I was before though eating has become more of a challenge than it was before. I would say that about 80% of the time I have no problem, but I am noticing some foods that agreed with me before no longer agree with me. For a few weeks I was eating quiche every day, then one day the one with bacon starting causing me pains in my pouch. I have laid off of it for a while and hope eventually I can go back to it.

Coffee--I always loved coffee but it used to upset my stomach. One pleasant change since the surgery is it no longer does that. I limit it to only one cup with caffeine per day and then switch to decaf, but it might be time to dust off the coffee maker. (No more indulging my starbucks habit until I have a job :-))

Fage--is a greek yogurt that is very sour almost like sour cream, but is very high in protein. I've been putting French Onion soup mix in it and having my own version of (soy) chips and dip. It feels like a guilty pleasure.

Chocolate pudding--I have discovered that cook and serve chocolate pudding with protein powder is quite good and when I find the time to make it, I have it just about every night.

Cream of Chicken soup--Jeff has been sick and so I made him some chicken soup, the chicken was a little tough so I blended it up in my magic bullet and added fat free half and half. I really liked it. So much that I ate it for lunch and dinner for four days in a row.

Chicken--Some people have trouble with chicken, but as long as it is moist I have no problems with it. It is one food I can reliably get down.

Cheese--I still have string cheese every day.

Life gets more and more normal every day. I am able to go to a restaurant and find something to eat, and it is once again the enjoyable social event it used to be, only now its cheaper.

WOW Moments

When you have surgery like this it is hard to see the weight loss in yourself. I look in the mirror every day and while I know my clothes are too big and the scale says I'm losing weight, it is hard to see the changes on a daily basis. I'm proud to say that I've had my first few wow moments:

I looked in the mirror the other day and I saw the me that had been missing for so long. The chubby cheeks are still there (and in reality no matter how much weight I lost may always be there) but there is a definition to my face, my eyes are brighter, my neck is slimmer. I see myself the way I always thought I should look in pictures.

I look forward to physical activity. A trip to the mall is an exciting idea. I have excess energy which I haven't had in years and am happily planning all my organization projects. Yesterday Jeff scheduled an appraiser to come to our house, giving us about 4 hours to get the house cleaned. I vacuumed and scrubbed and cleaned and organized without breaking a sweat and when I was done, I wasn't exhausted.

All of a sudden there are lots of babies and children in my life. The stamina to walk around holding a baby was something I hadn't been able to do in a long time. A trip to target holding a baby the entire time now tires out nothing but my arms.

Officially Unemployed

I am unemployed. I suppose this is a thought that should make me unhappy, but it does not. For the last five years I have run a million miles an hour making money for someone else, working for someone else and playing by their rules. They operated on my stomach, but it is also like they operated on my brain. It gave me clarity on my life, and three weeks out of the office made me realize exactly how unhappy I was, and so here I sit jobless and yet happy and free. Like I can finally breath again. Life works in mysterious ways and for every door that closes another one opens and now I must choose which one to walk through.

My new years resolution is that I am taking me back.

Almost Forgot, weight update..

I am down 57lbs!!!