Ansampson

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Yes there's life even after regaining some of your weight back. A young lady named Jupiter once told me on here that I was having an affair in a dirty public restroom by eating chips because they had no nutritional value. I got mad as heck at her because i was still losing and didn't think she knew what she was talking about. Then a few months later down the road she asked me what was I going to do when I started living life.  At that time I was going to the gym twice a day for two hour workout sessions. I didn't understand what she meant even then. I felt that the gym would always be apart of my life. Well fast forward three years later I can now fully understand what she was saying. The junk food is good but it doesn't fulfill you and if so not for long. Daycare ended for my children, I got a new husband, and my home life began to demand more of my time. Those two a day workout because once a day, maybe three times a week if I was lucky.
I've picked up 60 lbs during this time too. Last year I lost and regained the same 10 lbs five times. I returned to my old way of doing things. I went to a group where you weight in weekly, a support group where you take 12 steps, and then I tried to shame myself into losing those dreaded regained pounds. Nothing worked; so I decided I must learn to live with what I got and fight for my life not to regain any more. My line in the sand is 250 and yes I'm 17 pounds over that now.
Then someone said to go back to the basic. The basic for me has to be a way of life. it's not something I can do for a short period of time. I really understand this is a lifestyle concept for real now. No longer can I just eat junk because it's readily available. I have to be in control and look like a old bag lady who always have a bag with goodies inside. Now the goodies are fresh fruit or prepackaged snacks that I weigh and measure in advance. Also, every thing I put into my mouth is recorded.
It helps me to see the calories I consume. Also, I started going back to the gym more and began walking more at home with the kids. Another lady helped me to understand the calorie in and calorie out method. She told me to create a calorie bank where I saved calories each week, similar to a savings account. She said to save the calories for something really big like a new diamond ring. Sure you can reward yourself for every 3,500 calories saved but if you do you'll never have enough for the diamond earrings you want. Since I resumed the basic I've lost 7.6 lbs but I'm not spending my calories just yet. I have to get back down to my lowest weight before I spend or celebrate this time around.
Even with the regain I have a wonderful and full life. I'm very involved with my children and their activities. My husband and I have a active social life as well. I enjoy playing with the kids in the neighborhood and dancing in the park (even though I can't dance). I walked in several 5Ks, 1/2 marathon twice, and training to ride 50 miles in July. So I'm not going to beat up myself for the regain I've done that enough in the past. I'm using this as a learning tool. I can't ever let myself go again. I'm worth the effort and my husband enjoys the view!!

I'm three years post-op and I never made my goal of the first number in my weight being a 1. However, I did lose over 250 lbs at my lowest weigh of 217. Life that required more of me lessened my three hour workouts seven days a week to one hour at least five days a week. A new husband and three growing and active children began to complain about eating salads, fish, chicken spinach and green beans on a regular. They didn't like the fish and eggs, or eggs and refried beans with salsa too much better. So I began cooking meals that were more to their liking. Yes, I even tried to prepare different meals one for them and one for me. I was spending way too much time in the kitchen and my food bill hit the roof. Then I discovered once they were out of the things they enjoyed they began eating mines asell. All of this to say I regained 50 lbs from my lowest and 30 lbs from my last dr's visit which was a month prior to my lowest weight. I own up to my weight gain. I can no longer wear the wonderful size 14 suits my family bought me because they were tired of me wearing baggy clothes. I'm doing everything in my power to lose those regained pounds. No longer do I focus on getting under 200 lbs but instead on getting back into my clothes. They still fit the waist mostly even more so now that I had the excess skin from my sides and back removed. But honey I have hips from hell. I told my husband that my stomach used to hide it but now they're there for all to see. My plastic surgeon, Dr. David E. Morales and my husband agree that I now have a hour glass shape and that most men love that look. I'll admit it's cute for a change coming from a slab of fat and skin. I didn't have a shape or definitions before but now I look some what normal if there is such a thing.
My life is fuller and I'm enjoying every minute of it. When I began this journey three years ago I was afraid of dying. My PCP told me I was having a heart attack. My ex-husband was battling some major health issues and we weren't expecting him to live too much longer (he's still living too). I went from worrying about my children being fatherless to motherless. I felt in my heart that they could survive without a father but they surely couldn't without their momma. Plus I was sure others would abuse my kids because they are free thinkers and questions things they don't understand. In other words they have smart mouths like their momma. I was afraid I would die on the table and even more afraid of dying period. RNY was my fighting chance to be here to see my children grown. The only physical goal I had was that I wanted to go Go-Kart riding with my children. I'm glad to say I did that.
If you take a look at my profile you will see the amazing journey my children and I have gone through. We walked in as many 5k's as possible. We even do things just for fun such as 8 miles walks and bike rides. We play in the pool for hours at a time. I'm more involved in their school and lives. I play with them and their friends. They are my biggest and greatest cheerleaders. They have made this journey so worth it and I would do it all again in a heart beat. A word to the wise now my children are making better food choices and they exercise on a regular. My youngest child was showing her principal at school her arms because she has begun to lift lite weights. This is truly a family experience.
15 months after RNY, a tummy tuck, and having my arms done I met and married a wonderful man. I tell others that he is my gift from God, Those on the outside think I changed because of my husband; he's a body builder but I didn't. In fact we met in church not at the gym. My uncle told me to get a man who enjoys doing things that I like to do which at the time was church and the gym; so for the first time I believe I did as I was told. However, my husband did restrict my workout to once a day for an hour. He felt going over that was a waste of time and he said he wanted us to do more than the gym. He has stood by me through two more plastic surgeries and the regain. He's still smiling and so am I. It's funny to me because he claims he has been with me through the good, the bad, the ugly, and the stinky. I tell him he missed the truly bad parts morbid obesity, RNY, and the first rounds of plastic.
I don't know what the next year will hold for me but I'm excited that I'm truly able to experience it. My family and I have a lot more road to cover and we're physically able to do it,. As for the short term goals I'm going to Six Flags Over Texas to ride something anything with my children for the first time. I want to walk up Stome Mountain in Georgia this summer. Finally, I'm going to resume my 4 miles daily walks and bike rides. Watch out you just may see me walking in your area. Be blessed

Two and a half years later. I'm still here. Today I completed my fourth 5K Walk. I'm excited because I walked my first 5K a little over a year ago. That was the first time in my life that I walked 3 miles anywhere. Next weekend I will do another one, as well as next month, and then finish out the year with my first half marathon. I'm excited about the ability to be active and to do more. I've even began a group at my school called Stompers. We the members are stomping out obesity by making a healthy lifestyle the way of life for us. The scale has stopped moving downward for me but I thank God I'm staying within the range my surgeon said I would. Yes, I would still like to get another 50 lbs off to reach my personal goal. However, I'm no longer focusing on that as I'm enjoying the life I have now. RNY set me free from my self imposed confinement. I hope your journey is going well. I'm enjoying this thing called life and it's good in my neighborhood.

A little more than 2 yrs later I'm still here discovering new things about me. I really do enjoy being active and outside in the fresh air. I'm enjoying the role of being eye candy to my husband. And lastly, but not leastly, I really do enjoy kids. I was beginning to think everyone dropped their kids off with me because I was the fat one with nothing to do. Well I discovered I'm still the PHAT (pretty hot and temping) one who doesn't mind adjusting her schedule to include a few more kids. For example I took eight kids (6 under 8) to work with me one Saturday. No big deal for a stepper like me. I just underwent my third plastic procedure. I had to get my breast lifted back into the correct position. When laying next to my husband on our backs his chest was bigger than mine's. My chest looked like those balls sacks on the back of the tough guys trucks. No implants were needed and I think I will end up with a size D or a DD when it's all said and done with. I am really thinking about living with these tree stumps I call thighs but my cousin said it was all apart of the process and that I need to complete them as well. Truth be told I will be turning the big 40 this year and my body has undergone 8 surgeries within two years. I think I need to allow my body time to recover. I just make this look easy. My children and their friends tell me all the time how good I look and how much funner I am now. My kids are no longer embrassed to see me at their schools. Now they even sign me up to do things. When I began this journey two years ago I was afraid of dying on the operating table now I'm afraid of not living my life to the fullest. I'm asking God for at least 30 years with my husband and for me to see my grandchildren get grown. So if you don't see me lerking as often as I used to know that I'm trying to relive my 20's in my 40's!!

I'm still here after 22 months of life changes. I've lost a total of 240 lbs and have only regained about 20 of that. I gained twenty pounds since I got married and during the holidays. So far I've lost about 5 of those re-gained pounds. It's harder to lose the second time around. Still battling over my food choices. I do better when I snack on raw vegetables or simply fix me a plate of food to eat. I get into trouble with snacking as it's not enough to satisfy me so I tend to over eat. Since I got married my free time is limited. So gone are my two-a-days workout sessions. You use to could have set a clock by me because I was always in the gym at 4:30 in the morning and again at 4:30 in the evenings. Now I still go in the morning and I even have a new workout buddy, my husband. My family and I have committed to trying to eat healthy more this year by only eating out once a month. Plus we've added family exercise to our daily routine. When I look at pictures of me at 468.8 I don't even look the same. Friends and co-workers whom I haven't seen in a while don't even recognize me anymore.A former student of mines came looking for me and I told him it was me and he said no he was looking for the fat one. When I confirmed I was the fat one he was so shocked he picked me up while giving me a hug. So the next day two more of my former students came by to see me. I experienced my first leg cramp the other day due to running. I found that I'm a sprinter more than a jogger because jogging at a slower pace hurt my legs. A fast pace run feels good and I can really feel my breathing, it's deeper. Don't get it wrong the weight loss has left it's mark on my body. I had my arms and stomach done which took 20 lbs off me. However, now I need my breast lifted and my inner thighs tighten. The flapping sound is out this world. But I've gained so much more in return. I'm trying to adjust to buying clothes from a regular store because I'm not used to having choices. I can wear most 16's and some 14's but due to my hips the 16's fit better around them and I have the waist tapered. Gone are the days of having my son to tie my shoes, being the largest one in the group, and being out of breath with the simplest of movement. Life is good in this wls patient's neighborhood!!

I've lost 250 pounds in a little less than 19 months. I still can believe this was possible for me. My doctor gave me a tool and I worked that tool. My children and I are as active as ever if not more. Plus I have the added benefit of something new. During this process I gained a husband or at least I will on October 17. Yes in two weeks my life will change again and I'm so happy about it. The words I can't, I'm too heavy for that, and can I fit no longer exist in my vocabulary. Life is good in this neighborhood and I'm loving it. My only regret is that I didn't make the decision sooner.

18 months later and I'm still celebrating wow's. Labor Day I rode my bike for 8 miles and walked 8 miles all within 5 hrs. I'm still working out in the gym two times a day. However, since my three workout a day this summer I'm a little tired. So I'm trying to change it up a bit. For the month of September I will try working out only once a day for two hours. Trying to confuse my body so that it will release or burn more fat. I can now wear all size 16's and some 14's. My goal is to be able to wear most size 12's and weight around 190. Life is so good right now. I'm very active with my children adn no longer sitting on the sidelines watching. I'm involved with so many new things and can't believe I don't want to work a part time job paying $45 a hour. I simply want to be free to do other things. A friend of mine's is working on my next goal (creating it). This month I realized it's okay to move on from people who got you started. I started this journey alone and it looks like I have to finish it alone. I'm grateful to the five women who came along for a while however brief to encourage me along the way. I really enjoyed our time together but I can not continue to do the same old workout and routine for the same hour. It's time for me to soar to the next level. I'm still willing to hang out with you all but we can no longer workout together. I can not and will not restrict myself to be friends or to stay together. If we are truly friends you will undestand that I must run on to see what the end is going to be. Again I apprecaite your support and I will be forever grateful for you all.
Two questions came up during this new realization. One why is it that it's considered flirting when a female ask a man to show her some new workout routines? Men tend to work out harder than women and they know some different movement to confuse the muscle. My doctor's PA didn't believe I was burning about 3,000 calories a day on most days. Then she told me I needed to reduce my caloric intake to 900 calories and no more than 1,200 calories a day. I burn that amount of calories in the morning alone in the gym. It doesn't matter because I'm going to do what I have to do to reach my goal. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for me.

Can you believe it's still a journey 17 months later? For the past month or so I have lose and regained the same ten pounds at least twice. It's so easy to regain but hard to lose the second or third time around. I know it maybe be fluids due to the sodium increase I experience this weekend at our family reunion, and the lack of a BM but ten pounds is still ten pounds. Any way I'm not going to stress over it. School will be starting back for me next week so that will end my three times a day work outs. Can't you tell I'm so sad about that? However, I'm on to my next goal which is to ride my bike across the spillway at Joe Pool Lake. It's four miles across for a total of eight miles across and back. I've been riding my bike twice a day trying to get up to four miles each time. I'm not there but I'm getting there. I plan to complete this task on or before Labor Day weekend. Also, I completed two cycling classes this month. Those are a lot of fun and worth the soreness later.
It's been exactly two years since our last family reunion and man did everyone notice my weightloss. Some of my cousins didn't even know who I was. That was great. We had pictures up from our first reunion in 1991 plus the others as well. Man you can really see the difference even from 1991. The best part was not hearing my 87 year old grandmother tell me I was too large! Another bonus was my daddy kept my three kids while I went to the gym for a three hour workout. That's really major because my daddy don't even talk to kids he just looks at them. I don't know if this was done to help me or because my kids are independent and can take care of themselves. either way it was a joy because they got to spend some one on one time with their papa.
My goal for the summer was to be able to fit into every size 16 I could find before school started or to be able to wear a size 14. Well I go back to work next week and the kids come back the week after. I had a problem with a size 16 average. I couldn't zip them. I was able to wear a size 14 dress this summer. Plus I bought a pair of workout pants size 12/14 (I know they stretch but it's still a 12/14). So maybe it really does depend on how things are made. All of this to say it's been a journey from a size 7X to XL, 36/38W to 16 but it is so worth it.
Today a friend of mines told me to quit looking down at the scale and start looking up in the mirror and somewhere in between the two I will see the beautiful person I've become. I really need to be mindful of this because I weight in two to three times a week but I only record my weight from Sunday morning, Hopefully, I will make it to 220's by September 10 in time for my 18 month check up. Life is good in the weightloss neighborhood!!

As I approach my 29th birthday for the tenth time I have to sit here and reflect on my life. I thought I was really enjoying life prior to wls but that's not true. I was just going through the motions of living. Being a single mom of three I put my children's needs and wants ahead of everything. That's what a mother does, take care of the babies. I didn't even know I weighted 468.8 lbs. How could I let myself go to that point? I just got into auto pilot and didn't deal with a messy divorce and cruel family members who did things that i wouldn't do to a dog. I made a vow to myself a long time ago that if my weight would ever become a problem I would do something about it. Well I did and now I'm enjoying the benefits of being 238 lbs lighter. My momma said I look like myself again. I laugh because when I look in the mirror I see her. My stepfather who has been married to my mother for over 40 yrs would have a hard time telling us a part at a distance. So you know people confuse us all the time. That's not the point I wanted to make. I wanted to share with you the things I gained as the result of the weightloss. I love to exercise and even created a new term for what I do "socising". That's socializing while exercising. I can now wear some 16's and Large shirts and pants. That's from a 36/38 plus size or 7X. I still hate to shop because I get overwhelmed with the choices that are available. I guess I'm in the stage where people are really beginning to notice my weightloss. Yesterday, my momma, my aunt, and my cousin and I were trying to take pictures and someone called me away. My momma said I took my fat ass off knowing they were trying to take my picture. My aunt said she couldn't call me a fat ass no more. All three of them were laughing as they told me what was said. 
Men are beginning to notice me again.  I'm having a hard time with that because I can't help but wonder would that person have noticed me when I was 468.8 or would they have been interested in me then. I'm still the same person and if you didn''t want me then you don't want me now. I never knew it would be so hard to say goodbye to my ole self. I'm still a flirt and flirting makes me feel good. Who knows what the future holds in that regards. My ex-husband saw me out this past weekend and he was watching me so closely. My said I was showing too much skin and he was checking me out. I had on a thin strap shirt that revealed the chest area. Nothing too bad my daughter picked it out. My baby sister said I looked cute. That's the first time she's ever said that. Usually she claims I dress like a granny. Any way a new me is emerging and I don't know who or what I'll be. I just know I can't wait for school to start to see my co-workers reaction to the new and improved me.
I had plastic surgery on June 4 six days shy of me being 15 months post op. Many people believe you should wait at least 18 months post-op before considering plastic surgery. So even claims your weight needs to be stable for six months prior. Neither my RNy surgeon or plastic surgeon felt I needed to wait. I'm realistic and I know I probably won't lose too much more weight. However, I'm praying for that first number in my weight to be a one. My RNY surgeon's goal for me was 250 and mine's is 190. My weight keeps jumping between 230 and 235, so I just need 30 more lbs and I'll be at my goal. I can't tell if having the 17 lbs removed from my stomach has freed me up to exercise harder or not yet. It's too early to tell. However, I can't help but touch myself in amazement of the missing stomach. She had been with me for over 30 years and now she's gone. In her place is a old friend of mine's that I hadn't seen in a long time. She and I are getting to know each other again. She has moved up a little higher and I have to get used to her being so noticable.
Hopefully, I'm getting to the time where looking good taste better than any food because I want to reach my goal. However, I have to admit that the food still taste good and I eat just because I can. This is a mind battle more than anything else. I've been eating more and more sweets and that concerns me. Typicalll I'm not a sweet eater so hopefully, this phase will end soon. Need to go back to work, get out this house, and get back into a routine. The structure thing really works for me. I just have to continue to work my tool and stay the course as no one can complete this journey for me.

Today I weight myself on the scale an it was 235. I'm so happy I don't know what to do. It was my surgeon's goal for me to get to at least 250 lbs by September which would be the 18 month mark for me. I've been working extremely hard trying to reach that goal. I'll get down to 251.4 and then go back up to 255. That was going on for a few weeks. Then on June 4 I had a tummy tuck with extension and my arms done at Baylor-Dallas by Dr. David E. Morales. For the first time in 30 plus years I have a lap. Not only that I met a long lost friend that I hadn't seen in years. The girl looks good just a bit older than I remember. I had 3 of the 5 drains removed in a week. I hope to have the last two removed next week. However, one of them is still doing the fool and the color hasn't even changed. So who knows I may have to have one of the drains for two weeks. I'm not rushing it at all. I posted pictures of what I looked like 3 months prior to having plastics and how I look afterwards. I sure pray that no butt head try to use these for ill purposes. Yes, I could have gone private but that doesn't stop anything. And besides not everyone seeking information or trying to make a decision need to be a friend. I guess I'm really testing my new theme: Moving from Shame to Sharing. I can't wait to see what the summer has in store for me. I can't wait to get back into the gym to see if any of the guys notice a difference. Just in case any of you were unsure I love my RNY and I'm please I had the plastic surgery done. My future is bright and I'm ready to live this new life that I been given.