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Well, it's been 3 months since surgery, and I'm happy to report that everything is going well.  This morning, I weighed in at 254.2. I can't remember when I last weighed that. My official weight loss for the month was 14.2 lbs, so just about where I wanted to be. I didn't lose nearly as many inches this month, but I'm at a total of 46.25 inches lost. I wish more of that was in my waist/belly area, but I will take it wherever it comes off! Here's the updated weight numbers:

Weight July 6 -- 321.4 (the day we started pre-op diet)
Weight July 22 -- 309.0 (morning of surgery) -12.4
Weight Aug. 23 -- 287.8 (1 month post-op) -21.2
Weight Sep. 20 -- 273.2 (2 months post-op)-14.6
Weight Oct. 23 -- 259.0 (3 months post-op)-14.2

Total loss 62.4lbs.

At three months post-op I had officially lost 50 lbs. since my actual surgery date. That seems really pretty darn good, although I always feel like I should be losing faster. My weight loss seems to go in spurts. I will lose 8 lbs in 10 days, and then in the next 10 days, only lose 2 lbs. It's frustrating when I'm not seeing a loss on the scale, but it's awesome when I'm losing a pound a day. So I take the good and the bad, and I'm realizing that's just how my body works. I hope to get to the 240s before I experience my next little stall. I'm getting closer to my high school weight, and that's exciting! 

Dustin and I have started something new as far as working out. We're going to do the Couch to 5K program. We have only finished day 2 of it, but I'm really hoping it'll be something we stick with. I've always wanted to enjoy jogging/running, but it's always been something I hate. Supposedly at the end of this 9 week program, you can run a 5K or 30 minutes comfortably. I'm thinking it might take us a few extra weeks to get there, but it would be great just to be able to do it.

I'm hoping for another 14-15 lb. weight loss this month. That seems to be where I have been at, and I hope it stays consistent at least for a couple more months. I know it will slow down, but hopefully not yet. I continue to track all my food on myfitnesspal.com, as it keeps me accountable. I really have to work some days to get my proteins in, and I have noticed that if I'm not careful, my calories will be higher than I'd like. The tracking of food helps me make better decisions, so I'm glad I've stuck with it, even though some days I'd rather not. I like having something to help me stay accountable. 

Happy Halloween to everyone! My son, Jackson, decided that he wanted to be an "army guy", so his costume was easy. Up until last week, we were intending to make him a costume so he could be one of the Star Wars droids (R4-P17 I think). It worked out that this was much easier, while maybe not as creative. Today was his party at school, so I'm sure there will be candy around when he gets home. Hopefully I can stick with my plan of ignoring the Halloween candy! Candy has always been a major downfall for me (pre-op). I love sweets, and candy is probably my favorite junk food to snack on. I could eat it until I got sick pre-op. So I'm really having some temptation when I see all the candy in the stores. Last year, I had already gone through 2-3 bags by this time, and had to buy more so the trick-or-treaters would get some. This year, we're not buying candy to have at the house. We won't be here to pass candy out anyway, so it's better to stay away from it. 

So, it's been 2 months since surgery, and it seems like the time has flown by! I didn't make it to 24 lbs. lost in the first month, but I'm happy with my progress so far. Of course, I always wish the loss was faster, but I'm sure everyone experiences that at some point. Here are the stats:

Weight July 6 -- 321.4 (the day we started pre-op diet)
Weight July 22 -- 309.0 (morning of surgery)
Weight Aug. 23 -- 287.8 (1 month post-op)
Weight Sep. 20 -- 273.2 (2 months post-op)

I've also lost a total of 37 inches (mostly from my boobs....seriously!) since surgery, and I'm feeling darn good. Most of my clothes are too big, but I'm waiting until they're really too big to get new ones. I still have a few things that fit well, so I'm making the most of them. They are things I never got to wear before anyway, because I was too fat.

This morning I got on the scale and I weigh 271.4, which is exactly 50 lbs. down from my weight before we started the pre-op diet. In less than 3 months, I've lost 50 lbs. Yay! The best part is I know I have the tool to help me keep this weight off. I'm also paying a loan every month, which I think helps remind me how very important this is. 

My husband and I have started going to the gym and working out. I really like working out on exercise equipment, because I know exactly how much I'm doing, and I know how many calories I'm burning. I'm a numbers girl, so that keeps me motivated. I'm also journaling everything I put in my mouth on myfitnesspal.com. Even when I eat the wrong things, I put it in there, so I have a complete picture of my day. It helps me get my protein in; there is no guessing if I've had enough. I am trying to get in 60grams of protein daily, and most days I have no problem.  Sometimes, though, I don't feel like eating at all, and that's kind of a new experience for me.

Right now it's already after noon, and I haven't had anything to eat. I took my vitamins, PPI, and allergy pill this morning, but didn't eat breakfast. So I have to try to get in enough protein with one less meal. Usually I plan better, but I'm not working today, so I tend to be less structured about things.

Since my husband and I both had this surgery, it's made it a lot easier as far as food goes. We went out for the first time since our surgery, for his birthday this month. We went to a steakhouse and shared a meal. It was delicious, but we had enough left over for 3 more meals. And we didn't eat the bread at all. It was an exciting experience. I was sure I would want to tear into that yummy soft bread, but it didn't appeal at all. I also knew I'd never get any protein in if I ate bread. I'm really on this protein thing, because I hear it helps prevent, or at least cut down on, hair loss. I like my hair, and I don't want to lose it! 

I'm excited to see what next month will bring. I hope to lose about the same as this month (15ish), or a little bit more with the extra working out. I'm really going to try to make the working out a priority this month. I haven't weighed in the 250s since I got pregnant with my son 8+ years ago. I will be thrilled to see that on the scale.

Well, we lived through the surgery, and were very happy with our surgeon and his team. Dustin and I have both had a fairly easy time post-op, though I was nauseous for about the first week. Now, we're learning how to eat again, and really keeping track of our fluids and protein. 

It's strange to only be able to eat a fraction of what I used to eat, and I still find myself wanting things I used to eat (like pizza and cookies, ugh!). I guess they didn't cut out my brain, just my stomach. As far as actual hunger goes, I haven't had any. Some days I have to force myself to eat, because sometimes eating is uncomfortable. I measure out all my food, and I can usually eat about 3 oz. of soft food at a time. We will be able to start normal foods this upcoming Friday, so we'll have more variety in our lives. 

I'm glad we had this done, but I'm also driving myself crazy because I feel like I'm not losing fast enough. Dustin has hidden the scale from me (and himself, really) because we were weighing every day, and I was just feeling down with not losing every day. I just feel like if I'm eating 400-600 calories a day, I should see a difference! So, the hidden scale is a blessing; we'll be weighing in at our one month post-op date, and doing measurements. I know I've lost 20 lbs. this month (before we hid the scale!), so I am hoping for a total of 24 for the month. I guess we'll see!

Dustin and I celebrate our 8 year anniversary tomorrow; we don't have much planned at all, since we both have to work. We did go fishing over the weekend, which is my idea of fun anyway :)

Well, I knew the time would fly, and I was right! Tomorrow is the big day. Dustin and I will fly out early in the morning from Wichita, and then our surgery is tomorrow afternoon/evening. I'm really nervous, but I am also excited! I have so much stuff to do around the house that I don't have much time to worry, and that's good. I also still haven't packed anything, so today is going to be a busy one! I need to start making a "DO NOT FORGET THIS" list, because we have so much to remember: passports, cashier's check, instructions, phone numbers, airline confirmation stuff. Here I go to get all that done. Hopefully when I post again, I'll be feeling fabulous, and eating, well, nothing. The first two weeks are liquids only :)

Well, I've never done a blog before, and I'm sure I won't be very good at it, but I'm going to make an attempt. I am getting ready to make some huge new changes in my life, and I want to share them. Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning.

My name is Amy. I'm 29 years old, married to Dustin for 8ish years. We have one son, Jackson, who is 7. My boys are my favorite part of my life. We also have 2 small dogs. Zoe, a rat terrier, who is about 10 years old, and Piper, a puggle, who is 1.5 years old. They are full of energy, and I'd love to have some of it! We live in Salina, Kansas, and I'm a registered nurse working in an ICU unit.

I have struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember. When I see pictures of me as a kid, I was usually chubby. I was always an active kid, but I remember feeling too big even in 3rd and 4th grade. I remember at the end of 5th grade, I was 5'3" tall and weighed 148. It's strange that I remember that, but I do. All my friends, it seemed, were either right around 100, or even smaller. I have always been fat! When I was in junior high and high school, I played sports, and stayed chubby. I was at my smallest when I was in 8th and 9th grade. I was already at my full height (5'8") and weighed around 170-180. I wore a size 12 for a long time, and that was huge compared to everyone else. Right now, I would love to weigh that! 

I continued to kind of gain weight slowly during high school, and weighed around 200-210 when I graduated. I wore a size 16 by that time, and then when I went to college, it just went way downhill from there. I completely quit exercising, because I was no longer in sports. I also had fast food at my disposal, which was not the case when I grew up on the farm. I love ice cream and carbs of any sort, and I ballooned up to where I was wearing a size 22-24 rather quickly. I decided to do something about my weight when I was nearly 20 and weighed in at 288 lbs. I looked seriously into weight loss surgery at that time, and I went to the doctor and was pretty much told that I just need to eat less and work out more, and he wouldn't even consider refering me for surgery. I went on a very strict diet, using Phentermine pills, and started exercising daily. Zoe was my walking companion, and we went for miles around the walking trail at the hospital in Hays. I also did Tae Bo. I lost 40 lbs fairly quickly, then right after my 21st birthday I found out I was pregnant.

I went off the Phentermine and started to eat more because of that. I got married in August, and had my son in January of 2003. I weighed about 280 after he was born, and rather than losing that weight, I gained more. I was in nursing school during this time as well, and I remember when I went for my physical exam before my final year of school, I weighed over 300 lbs for the first time. Jackson was 7 months old at that time, so it hadn't taken me long to gain that much weight. I was appalled! I changed my dieting habits a little bit at that time, and did manage to get under 300, but not by much. And the next time I remember weighing was when I started my job at Hays. It was my first job as a nurse after graduating college, and I weighed 299.

I worked night shift as a nurse for 6 years, and in the first year, I gained 30 lbs. Since that time, I have lost and gained the same 30-40 lbs. about 6 times. I get on the scale and it says something horrible like 335 (my all time high, and so embarrassing to actually type), so I go on a diet and work out, lose 30-50 lbs., start to feel better, and kind of let up on the diet and the exercise, start to gain weight, and before I know it, I'm back where I started.

So, that's quite a saga, and one that I have read on other people's blogs many times. This forum has given me the encouragement that I need many times, and even though I haven't posted yet, I feel like the people here might really, actually "get" why it is that I feel this surgery is a necessity for me. I don't want to look back on my life and feel cheated because I was fat. I don't want to look back and say I wish I would have done this and that, but I didn't or couldn't because I was too fat. I feel like I need to do this now, for me and for my family.

Probably most people I know wouldn't believe that I would even consider something like going to Mexico to have weight loss surgery, but that's what I'm going to do. I have decided to have the vertical sleeve gastrectomy, and I've scheduled it (just today) for July 22nd. My husband is going to have the same surgery done the same day. 

This is quite a scary thing for us, but we're determined to make this work for us. We are in serious need of a change, and believe this is the way for us to do it. We'll be financially strapped for awhile because of this, but we're both afraid if we don't just make the commitment and do it now, we never will. We have a great patient coordinator through beliteweight.com, named Deborah, who is really helpful. We've already booked our flight, a hotel for one extra night, and have paid our down payment. We are just waiting to see what our best financing option is right now. 

That's probably enough information for right now. Even if nobody ever reads this, hopefully I will keep up with it, and it can be my own personal weight loss surgery journal. 

Oh, wait. One more thing. Another embarrassment: My weight today was 314.4 (BMI 47.7), and my long-term goal is 164 because that would give me a normal BMI for the first time ever. I would really be happy with about 180, though. 

Thanks so much for reading my first blog! If anyone has any tips, comments, or something funny to say, I'm definitely open to that!