RaCina

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wow its been awhile since I did any posting at all, been busy and living life, been maintaining my weight between 130 - 132 lbs, exercise is a big part my my life, if I don't get to a gym I take long long walks, having fun playing in the play grounds with my grandkids, swing races (who can go the highest :) ) going down the slides at the playground why because I can! :) Went back to visit my family in Florida back in July, they all had clothes from thier closets to give to me, they out grew them and saved them for me, very nice to say the least, went to amusement parks and walked for miles, never tired from all the walking, only had to stop because other family members got to tired to keep going! I had a some abdominal work done Wednesday Sept 30th, a little disappointed it was only 3 lbs of skin and fat taken off, but lower abdomen is flat even with the swelling, for the first since maybe I was 11 years old I don't have a abdomenal apron and a hang there, I am so extremely happy with the results already, I can 't wait to see what it looks like in a few months when all the swelling goes down! I would love to get my arms done but that may have to wait some, MVP did cover the abdomen work, and the plastic surgeon did a little extra for free for me, the good thing I didn't have the ventral hernia like was thought, I am still walking a little bent over for at least a few more days I think, drains will get removed next Friday, but feeling pretty darn good for being 3 days out from surgery....
Hi to everyone and hope everyone is doing great!!

I have been going to bed later but still gettitng up early and not able to get back to sleep, so I average about 5 1/2 hours a night. I do wake up a couple times a night but I am able to fall right back to sleep. I still have lots of energy though. I am finally at a normal BMI with 5 more lbs to lose on my personal weight goal. I had not lost any weight for a few weeks now it seems to be dropping again, most of the time I can get 800 - 850 calories a day in and I get 75+ grams of protein, I keep my carbs down to 40 grams or less so I think I am doing okay or at least I think so. My family keeps telling me I am getting to thin, I don't think so especially when I have just hit a normal BMI, I think its the lower abdomen I so need a tummy tuck! There is nothing but skin on the arms, legs, breasts, and the back, even though I do weight training on the lower body and the upper body it doesn't help with the skin sag..I am 48 years old I do believe I won't get much elasticity back, I have been obese since I was 7 years old, nothing but surgery will help this. I really don't care about the arms, breasts and the legs its the lower abdomen I would to get taken care of, but I do guess before I even get a plastic surgery consult I have to wait at least a year post op and that isn't until April. I'll bide my time until then and keep working on the lower abdomen at the gym.


So all is well on the weight loss front!!! :)

Well I went to Florida to visit my family from November 3rd to the 20th, they hadn't seen me since a few weeks after the surgery, my mother was very proud which was nice my youngest sister whom weighs all of 90 lbs was very surprised, my middle sister whom has always weighed 110 - 115 was telling me I looked to thin stop loosing weight etc! She started gaining weight a few years ago and now or so she says she weighs 135, which I know is stretching the truth, she is actually bigger than me! All of my family is small and petite I wasn't and never have been, my middle sister asked me for pointers on how she could loose weight, I tried to tell her to use a program like fitday and log everything she eats and up her water intake to 64 or more ounces a day and eat more protein and veggies, she kept cutting me off and saying she doesn't eat very much, we went to bingo one evening and she ate sweet potatoe fries 2 reeses peanut butter cups and potatoe chips, I just kept thinking she wouldn't listen to  me and this is how she is living  her life. I love her dearly but there is nothing I can do or say to her that will change anything. For the most part I did have a good time, I don't get to see them very much. Had to ask my mother to stop trying to feed me toast and eggs for breakfast every morning, I explained to her I only have bread products once in a blue moon, I went out and got some egg beaters for breakfast instead of whole eggs. She did get me turkey breast and chicken breast for dinners and lunches, she was trying, bless her heart, but before I left she told me I was to thin to stop the weight loss, haha I explained to her I was still  over weight on the BMI scale, so I was not to thin, its just the weight is distributed differently due to my work outs, she told me I had no butt! :) My Mom weighs 118 lbs soaking wet, she complained of a few pounds she had put on in the past few months, like I said they are all tiny people.....


I have surpassed the surgeon's office weight goal they set, and 12 lbs from what I want to be, at 142 I feel great, size small  8 - 10 depends on the pants, small - med blouse / shirt, working out at the gym has redefined my body in a very good way, now just can't wait till next year for hopefully a tummy tuck. I am not sure what happens or what I do when I reach my goal weight, I still can't get over 800 calories in, most of my calories are protein I try for 70 grams protein, 40 or below grams of carbs, a little over 20 on  the fats, at least 50% of the calories go to protein, I think the hair loss has slowed down a bit. I was getting a little worried about it, thinking of buying a wig, but it seems to have leveled off for now.

All and all not bad for almost 8 months out at this point

I had my 6 month appointment today, I am 2 pounds from the goal the surgeon's office set for me which is wonderful! But alas that is not the goal I set for myself though I want to get down to 130 pounds, so I actually have 18 more pounds to loose, everything is going great, I want to be on the go all the time, but no one else in the house wants to keep on the go with me, its hard to get anyone to go work out with at the gym or to go for long walks at Green lakes or Beaver lake, last weekend we did get out to Beaver lake and walked all the way around the lake, what a wonderful walk and its so beautiful there, of course hubby and the grandkids were very very tired afterward, I could have kept walking, so I did find someone to go to the gym with me for 2 days out of the week, we cram alot of stuff in a 2 hour period, 2 cardio workouts, treadmill and stationary bike, 30 mins each, then off to the weights and do upper body as well as lower body weight machines, I like this way alot better than one day all lower body then next day upper body, this shakes it up a bit and it feels like a total body work out this way. In the off days I do 40 - 60 mins on my stationary bike at home and do stretch bands and dumbells for weights and stretching exercises, okay I have gotten to the point where I actually enjoy this, who would have thought!!
But I would like to get to the gym on the off days, I'd rather work out there instead of home.
The other great thing is I don't have to return to (Dr Fitzer's office -Utica) again for 6 months, Sara said I was doing so good all lab work is terriffic also!
So that is my 6 month update!!!!    YEA!   

Went back to the fair on Saturday with the rest of the family, I guess when you have a state fair there is always something you miss the first time. I so loved the fair this year though it was a shear pleasure to keep walking, I bought a few trinkets in one of the tents and bought a few little things for the grandkids and they really enjoyed themselves too, Food wise I made good choices again, found a place that had grilled scallops wrapped with bacon on a stick, actually was a 1/2 piece of thin bacon around each scallop, but there was 6 scallops and that was perfect for me for lunch. Had a 3 small cubes of cheddar cheese for a snack, bought ice cold bottles of water for $1.00 then mixed in the crystal light I brought with me, fluids were no problem! For dinner had a grilled chicken, romaine lettuce, tomato wrap , minus most of the wrap, only ate 1/2 gave my hubby the other half of the sandwich, had 1/2 of a cucumber, tomato salad he got the other half  he does very well when we go out anywhere to eat if I can't get a doggy bag he is the recipient of my left overs, he doesn't mind that at all... The weather was wonderful!

Hubby and I went to the fair last thursday walked for 7+ hours, It wasn't to hard to find things to drink or eat that were low calorie, carb and low fat. for lunch I had a steak and cheese sandwich, left the bread off and ate the steak and cheese, with a bottle of ice cold water with a packet of cyrstal light from my purse, I did well, for a snack I ate some sweet potato chips, made with sunflower oil, calories were 130 for 1 oz they are lower in carb then regular chips, for my thrill of the day I found a stand that made iced lattes with zero calorie syrups and 2% milk, that was so good! This same stand also made smoothies with just fruit no sugar and no fat yogurt. Nice fella we talked for a bit about how nice it was to find things to drink like that without the sugar etc. in it. For dinenr we went to a chicken place I had grilled chicken with a tossed salad and a unsweetened ice tea, gave some of my salad to my hubby could not finish it, last year I would have been trying to gorge myself on stuff I wouldn't have been able to walk off in 3 days! I so enjoyed myself had all the  energy in the world and the back never gave me a moments trouble! Last year I had to sit every 10 mins or so,  it was so horrible trying  to walk with the back and leg pain.
       What a difference this surgery has made in my life..

The more I loose the more energy I get, including waking up too early in the morning and not being able to go back to sleep, throwing a load of laundry at midnight, I am not complaining for to long I had zilch for energy. hoping soon they can take the O2 concentrator from my house it is connected to my CPAP machine I just don't need it, so they did a over night pulse oximetry to check my O2  saturation while I sleep, its getting so most of the time I don't put my CPAP on anymore either, I did have my numbers turned down though, mask doesn't fit correctly anymore I should get a smaller size I think. I have lost a total of 65 lbs, I am 35 pounds from my goal weight, the Doctor's office put my weight higher than I did, that would make my goal in 20 pounds, it still isn't to shabby for 4 1/2 months post op, I exercise frequently try for at least 4 times a week, sometimes its 3 times though, we walked part of the eerie canal this evening what a pretty walk much better than a treadmill, walked for  an hour straight  no stops. My husband was beat he said, I could have kept going...... 
Thats about it, havn't done much posting lately alot to do these days....

Thursday we are headed for Sandusky Ohio to go to Cedar Point to ride rollercoasters!! I havn't been to this park in 11 years they have a few new coasters. We are spending 1 of the days at the water park, should be a blast I won't be tired or to short winded to climb all the stairs  the Grandkids have never been there, so its all new to them! I can't wait to see it through thier eyes!!

I had to get a new bathing suit my old one was looking rather large on me!!!  Yipppppppppppy!!!

Today was a cardio day at the gym, we went walking at Green lakes state park, all the way around the lake, what a pretty treat! It's gorgeous this time of year and the weather was perfect not to cold not to hot, and some small little hills to walk up. Much better than riding a stationary or walking a treadmill or at least I think!        

Things are going well, been hitting the gym 4 - 5 times a week, to try and minimize the "big sag" lost quite a few inches and 45 pounds, had to buy some new clothes because the others were getting very big, I love my clothes big, but not swimming in them!     It's a good thing though!  My back doesn't hurt when I walk longer distances anymore, its still amazing!!