HeatherL39

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 Hello to all my OH friends!  I am still here and doing great!  I have been really busy the last few months. Life's stressors and living a new life.  

I am down to #171 as of yesterday!  I really can't remember when I last weighed that. I am now thinking about a tummy tuck /panniculectomy. I am 16 months out from surgery now. The weight is still coming off. But very slowly. LOl. I would be happy to lose 10 more pounds.  But simply because of the bounce up most post bariatrics patients have. I am in a size 12 sometimes size 10 depending on the clothes. I still look in the mirror and wonder who I am looking at and people at work don't recognize me. 

I am still so glad I made the decision to have surgery. I feel so much better. I still have back pain. But my primary dr thinks it is from the extra skin I carry. I hate it and so hope I can say bye to it in the future. My confidence is better then ever and I love being so active. I have days when I wish I could bite into a big juicy burger. But I chose to go bunless and it is fantastic.  But I know I made the choice I made because of my health and family.  So most days I don't mourn my lack of buns. Haha 

I will remind all my friends. Drink your water and take your vitamins. So important. I had about a month where I was busy ran out of vitamins and was slacking on my water. Wow. Did I feel punky. Such and important thing to remember. Such a simple little thing to do to keep ourselves healthy. Protein!!!  I have found I crave it. Not only that but I need more now then a year ago. I stick to about 80+ now. We need that fuel. I will be back to chat soon!
Stay healthy!


So good to 

I had a fantastic day yesterday!  I went shopping all by myself.  I know that sounds trivial to some.  But I have been waiting for the opportunity and budget to go and buy some new clothes.  I went to Victoria's Secret for the first time and spent way too much $.  LOL  I never thought I would end up spending that on a bra.  It was a lot of fun though.  Plus to go in and get measured and having the help finding exactly what I needed was nice.  I have never been able to shop there before so that made it even better.

I am down to a size 12 now.  That too is unfamiliar territory.  But a good place to be. 

My eating has seemed to settle in a good place.  I feel like I have become comfortable with the things I chose to eat and the quantity.  I still struggle with the head hunger from time to time.  I think that is something that will always be there though. I think the goal is to always be aware of it.  To teach yourself to always focus on why the bad choices in food or bad timing of eating is going on.  I feel as if with me when I let myself slip into not paying attention or ignoring what I am doing I get into trouble.  Keeping up the vigilance of paying attention is important for the long haul.

Activity wise I have never had more energy then I have now.  I am so happy with all of the things I get accomplished in a day. 

I hope everyone has a great week.  Enjoy this beautiful fall weather.

Heather

Well I met with the trainer at the gym on Monday and learned something really interesting about myself.  I am above average in my cardiovascular exercise!  I did a fit test (it felt like a cardiac stress test LOL) on the treadmill.  And when it was all said and done my results were great.  I can't even begin to explain how happy I am about this.  1 year ago we joined the gym.  I started walking at 2.5mph and no incline.  I was so tired and out of breath and had to keep slowing down to lower my heart rate to a lower rate.  Now I am running and planning my first 5K for October.  I am so proud of myself:)  I have been worried for years about the damage that I have done from smoking and not exercising.  When I saw my physician last week for my physical she said that running/cardio exercise will help if not reverse some of the damage.  YAY!  So keep it up!  Next week I go in to the trainer and get a weight program.  I really need to start doing some more weights.  My goal is to be able to go 3-4 days a week and do cardio and weights.  Walking and cardio on the other days would just be bonus.  But 1 1/2 hours 3-4 days a week in and out.  So that is our plan.  Develop a workout that is quick and to the point. 

Things have leveled off at home.  We have been seeing my husbands counselor together to try to learn how to communicate with each other.  It is amazing to me that you can start out knowing how to talk to each other.  Say all the right things.  Not be just generally pissed off by something small the other person says.  Yet end up with a total breakdown in communication.  That is where we have been.  So frustrating.  I take the blame for a lot of it.  I am not always a patient person.  (shocking I know)  So when the ugly side of bipolar comes out in my husband I am not always so understanding.  I shouldn't say that.  I start out understanding.  But after awhile I just lose the patience for the entire thing.  I know I sound like a complete bitch..  Ok I will own that name.  I can be a bitch.  When you have spent years working with someone on how to reduce the symptoms of something and they do everything other then the things that they have been told to do it is frustrating.  I guess I equate it to the same as weight loss.  We all know what we have had to do.  Both pre and post weight loss surgery.  Less calories + more activity = weight loss.  Easier said then done.  Right!  I get it.  But MY problem is that I have done something about my weight.  So when will my hubby do something about his illness?  The dr's have said.  Eat better, exercise (so important), do your full spectrum light, and get up and get busy and get the best sleep possible.  I know it is an illness.  I know he can not help it.  But he can help it not get as bad as it does.  I guess we are all a work in progress.  I need to realize that he is working on it now.

Well I need to get up and moving.  Work called and I get to go in for my extra day.  Overtime!

Have a great day everyone!
Heather

As of this morning I have lost a total of #100!  pre-op and post op total.  I have to include pre-op in that mix.  That was a hard #30.

Well on Friday I will be 6 months out from my surgery.  I have no regrets and have learned so much in that time period.  I am certain that I would make the same decision I made to have WLS.  In fact I think to myself everyday how I wish I would have had the courage to do this sooner.  But I know that every thing has a time and place.  This was my time and place. 

Highest wt: #286     2/2010

                 #250     3/2/2011 Surgery day!

                 #187     8/31/2011 Today (almost 6 mths out)

I look at those numbers and feel so many different emotions.  WOW!  #99!  I am starting to feel more like the weight I am showing on the scale.  To those of you that are just starting this journey that may seem like an odd thing for me to say.  But my OH friends that have been doing this for a little while understand.  The NSC's (non scale victories) keep adding up daily.  Some subtle, some not so subtle.  There are things that just piss me off since I have lost my weight and things that make me smile to myself. 

I think the frustrating thing is how people who never would acknowledged me before do now.  I notice this the most at my childrens school and at my work.  Now that I am what society views as a "normal" size it is ok to speak to me.  People that have never spoke to me before go out of their way to come up to me and comment on how wonderful I look "now".  Yes I have had people say that.  This happened yesterday to me at work.  "You look wonderful now.  What did you do?"  Really?  I just smiled and said thank you and left it at that.  It was the now that got me.  LOL I think it just helps us define who is important to us.  The people that were supportive and loving before still are and they are the ones that matter.

The postive things are what I always try to focus on.  Playing with my 2 beautiful kids.  Feeling so healthy.  Going for a long walk and not hurting after.  Normal cholesterol.  LOL

Thank you for alll of the support I have received from my OH friends.  This site has been so helpful.

Love
Heather

I would like to throw a little question out to my OH friends. What is you daily protein intake and what does you day of eating look like?  I am trying to tweak my day a little and am curious how other people handle their day.

Thanks everyone:)
Heather

I told myself last week after some us started to list off our NSV's (non-scale victories) that every Thursday I would write one down.  I think it is a fantastic reminder of why I decided to have WLS.  I was so busy though yesterday with shopping for school clothes and supplies with my kids I completely forgot.  So here I go..

Play time!

I am loving running and playing with my kids!  We can run through the park to the toys and I am not out of breath!  It is great.  I don't have to think about the distance first.  Judge it in my head to see if it is going to be too far.  Embarrass myself but getting there and having to take 10 minutes to recover.  They have noticed too.  I was at the store with my daughter a couple of days age and it was raining when we got out.  Not just raining I should say but pouring.  She looked up to me and said "lets run between the rain drops!"  We took off.  Now we missed the opening between all the rain drops and go soaked.  But it was fun running in the rain to the van.  Silly I know but it was great.   

TGIS!  Thank God it's Saturday!  Off for the weekend and home with my babes.  I love it.  Sitting her drinking a cup of java and looking up useless info on the computer.  It is a good am. 

My one goal I have to do today is update my pictures.  I told myself I would get them done and loaded today.  The reason I really want to do this is because I caught my reflection yesterday when I was walking in from my break at work.  I was walking with my frien Yvette and I have always thought of myself as the fat one that just hangs back.  I actually stopped and took a look.  She is taller then me by a couple of inches.  But otherwise we were the same size.  I actually stopped and took a 2nd look.  I think it is a hard thing to do to shake that image we have of ourselves.  I feel fab, I walk with a new lighter step but seeing myself still surprises me sometimes. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Heather

I had another NSV today!  Brenda you have us all on a roll!  I took my kids to the park for a little picnic and I climbed the monkey bars all the way to the top!!!!!  Last summer I would have been so afraid of falling I would never have dared.  It was great!  I plan on going back Saturday for some more playground fun

It feels like it took forever to get that pound off.  2 weeks to lose 1 pound.  Well it's gone now.  I have been trying to move around on how much protein I eat to see if it makes a difference at all.  I have went back up to 65-70 and it seems to have done the trick.  But when I dropped it to 60 and increased my veggies it did before.  Who knows:) I do know that I notice a big difference if I make sure to get every ounce of fluid in me a day.  I allow myself 1-2 cups of coffee a day.  That is amazing compared to the pot I used to drink.  I match it with the same amount of a non caffeine beverage.  Lots of decaf tea and crystal light.  I have been drinking decaf chai tea with coffee mate lite and splenda.  My little home made version of a chai tea anyways.  I use 2 tea bags, 4 little packs of coffee mate and 2 tsps of splenda in 16 oz of h2o.  I love it.  My only concern is the calories in the coffee mate.  Each one of my little drinks would have 60 calories and I have limited myself to 2 a day.  I think I am being a little OCD by think that would make a difference.  But I dont want the calories to start sneaking up on me again.

Thank you Brenda and Kim for your blogs on the NSV's.  I thought a lot about mine last night and I so appreciate you positive outlook!  This site has been so helpful to me.  It is nice knowing other people understand.

Love to all!
Heather