I cannot believe I haven't written anything in almost a year. Whoa!
The past year has been very busy. In November 2011 the house in Black Diamond was flooded with sewage. We spent most of 2012 fighting with their insurance companies (yes, companies), finally retaining a lawyer to get what they promised in the first place. So.... every weekend was spent remodeling Black Diamond because we decided to move there and rent out the condo in Seattle. We moved in on September 21, 2012.
The insurance money covered repairing every room in the house but the ones that were deal breakers for me - the bathrooms and kitchen. I ended up taking a loan against my 401(k) and the house has been remodeled top to bottom. New kitchen, new bathrooms, new floors, new appliances - everything. I even learned how to tile the backsplash in the kitchen. It looks very nice, if I do say so myself. LOL
My weight loss journey has slowed considerably but that is no one's fault but mine. Although I am eating far less, I am still not eating how I should. So..... I need to get back on the stick because I want to lost 35 pounds and hit "onderland" before my birthday in June. There is no reason why I cannot accomplish that. If I cannot, I want to hit that milestone before going to Ireland in September. Jim and I are driving throughout Ireland, with a rental car and hotels pre-paid every night. It should be a wonderful adventure.
Slainte!
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Monday, April 2, 2012
No April's Fool Day Joke!
Yesterday was a watershed moment for me. I did something I had never done before but always envied other people who did. When I was married the first time, my husband took part in the San Francisco Bay to Breakers race a few times. I always stayed home with the kids and watched it on TV. I wanted so much to be a part of that. Not so much the running up of Hayes Hill, but being part of something so large.
Yesterday I participated in the Seahawks 12K Run, benefitting an organization that the Seattle Seahawks football team supports that helps at risk children. I was participating in the 5K walk. I almost started to cry right before the race started because I was so overcome with the fact that I was even there participating in such a physical activity.
I am so glad that there are now so many 5K walks and runs that peope can participate in. I think organizers have realized there are a lot of people who cannot complete a 10K run, but we can complete a 5K walk. I was so excited to realize I could participate.
I finished the three miles in about an hour. I didn't finish last, but I was pretty near the back of the pack. People WALKING strollers passed me. I think I walk a fast enough pace but take short steps. I'm just proud of the fact that I didn't quit, didn't take a shortcut. At one point I thought we were nearing the end but then realized the route looped around behind the Boeing plant, down by the Cedar River. It was so tempting to just cross over and walk with the walkers who had already made the U-turn but pride wouldn't let me do that. Finishing the race wouldn't mean much if I didn't truly walk the whole thing.
I've come to a few realizations ~
Yesterday I participated in the Seahawks 12K Run, benefitting an organization that the Seattle Seahawks football team supports that helps at risk children. I was participating in the 5K walk. I almost started to cry right before the race started because I was so overcome with the fact that I was even there participating in such a physical activity.
I am so glad that there are now so many 5K walks and runs that peope can participate in. I think organizers have realized there are a lot of people who cannot complete a 10K run, but we can complete a 5K walk. I was so excited to realize I could participate.
I finished the three miles in about an hour. I didn't finish last, but I was pretty near the back of the pack. People WALKING strollers passed me. I think I walk a fast enough pace but take short steps. I'm just proud of the fact that I didn't quit, didn't take a shortcut. At one point I thought we were nearing the end but then realized the route looped around behind the Boeing plant, down by the Cedar River. It was so tempting to just cross over and walk with the walkers who had already made the U-turn but pride wouldn't let me do that. Finishing the race wouldn't mean much if I didn't truly walk the whole thing.
I've come to a few realizations ~
- I'm going to try to participate in one 5K walk every month.
- I CAN do this. My buddy, Esme, was sick and didn't come. I just put on my music and did it anyway.
- I need new shoes made for running or walking, and socks that wick the moisture away. I have a fairly large blister on my foot from where my feet got sweaty and the sock folded over on itself.
- I learned that walking three miles on pavement in a pair of cross trainers doesn't work all that well. In favoring the spot with the blister, I hurt my ankle hurt and my foot is swollen.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Happy Tuesday
Christmas 2010 Michael and Mikey gave me a beautiful tunic top. It is red, one of my favorite colors to wear, with some beautiful pleating around the V neck. Unfortunately, it wouldn't fit over my hips; I've always been shaped like a pear. I didn't want to return it, though, because I hoped someday it would fit. Well, lo and behold, I tried it on this morning and it fits ~ OVER MY HIPS!
Having my sleeve last August was the best thing I have ever done for myself!
That's an NSV (non scale victory) and I love it. I'm going to California at the end of April for Gunner's 2nd birthday, so I guess I'm going to HAVE to buy some cute capris or jeggings to wear on our trip to the zoo. Oh, darn.
Oh, yeah, down 52 pounds this morning. That's down 64 pounds from my highest weight, 52 pounds since the surgery on August 4, 2011.
TTFN
Having my sleeve last August was the best thing I have ever done for myself!
That's an NSV (non scale victory) and I love it. I'm going to California at the end of April for Gunner's 2nd birthday, so I guess I'm going to HAVE to buy some cute capris or jeggings to wear on our trip to the zoo. Oh, darn.
Oh, yeah, down 52 pounds this morning. That's down 64 pounds from my highest weight, 52 pounds since the surgery on August 4, 2011.
TTFN
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy
I've been asked by a couple of people how I am losing weight, so I thought I would explain the procedure I had. This is going to be a much longer post than normal, so bear with me.
In a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG), most of the stomach is surgically removed, leaving a pouch about the size of a medium banana. Unlike Gastric Bypass Surgery (GBS), the intestines are left alone. Sleevers have fewer problems with malabsorption of vitamins because we still have the intestines so the body can absorb the vitamins. The only vitamin I take sublingually, because a pill doesn't get absorbed in the stomach anymore, is a daily B-12 pill. I could also get a shot but that would require one more trip to a doctor. Every day I take multivitamin capsules, Vitamin D, Iron, calcium supplements, and the B-12 sublingual pill.
The VSG is a tool that makes following a healthy eating regimen easier because with the stomach goes a lot of the nerves (hormones?) that cause a person to feel hunger pains. The hunger pains do not go away; I am hungry as I type this. The difference is that I do not want some huge breakfast. I eat a small meal every 3-4 hours, which is how we are supposed to eat but rarely do.
People who might say we took "the easy way out" by having VSG, or any bariatric surgery, aren't familiar with what Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) patients do. We still eat sensibly, still work out, still think about what we eat. As my nutritionist explained it, the pouch controls the quantity, I control the quality.
I had the lap band in 2006 and it worked for a while then I found ways to cheat the band. Ice cream slides down quite nicely with the band. I found myself eating foods that would slide past the band, not foods I should be eating. After avoiding my doctor for over a year because I felt like such a failure, I finally had to give in and see him because I was having band slippage and discomfort. My band was removed in an outpatient procedure on June 22, 2011. It was hard not to indulge in birthday cake on June 20, but I was giving myself the gift of health and it seemed a fair trade-off.
I weighed 300 pounds on the morning of August 4, 2011. The number sticks in my mind because it was such a "round" number. This morning, a little over seven months later, I weighed 247.6. I could not have stuck with a "diet" this long. The sleeve is more liberating than the band because I don't have to constantly worry that something I eat is going to get stuck and come back up. That is not a pleasant experience. With the sleeve, I eat protein first because that takes the longest to digest and gives the feeling of "fullness." I can eat some breads, though I'd rather fill my pouch with something other than bread. Unless, of course, we're talking garlic bread! Ha! Ha! I can visualize a medium banana, so I eat accordingly. I can usually make two meals out of an order at a restaurant, so I order what will "keep" for the next day. Though I can order off the appetizer or child's menu, those foods are not usually the type of food I want to eat. The child's menu at most restaurants consists of fried items or something else I don't want to eat. Sleevers do not drink with their meals and we wait 30 minutes after a meal to drink. This was actually one of the biggest adjustments for me. We don't drink with the meal for two reasons, take your pick. Drinking with the meal makes me full and I don't get in the protein I need, or drinking washes the food through our stomachs more quickly and we don't reap the benefits of feeling full nor do we absorb the vitamins in the food because it washes through the stomach too quickly. I am supposed to eat 60-80 grams of protein every day to help retain muscle while losing weigh.
Seven months out I still have not experienced the hair loss many do. My hair does feel thinner, but I haven't noticed any globs of hair in the drain or on my pillow. Getting in the protein and biotin (in my bariatric multivitamins) helps alleviate the hair loss issue. I am a firm believer in taking the bariatric supplements through Celebrate Vitamins or Bariatric Advantage, not some Flinstones gummy vitamin. Bariatric vitamins are formulated to meet the needs of WLS patients. A couple of months ago my nutritionist told me I could start taking vitamin capsules and not the chewable vitamins. Yay!
The VSG surgery was done in my doctor's surgery suite at the Puget Sound Surgical Center. They kept me overnight to monitor my breathing. With my obesity came severe sleep apnea. I sleep with a CPAP machine and hope that I can stop using it someday, though I sleep better with it.
I have heard various stories from people about what they had to do to prepare for the surgery. Some have had to lose weight in order to have the surgery. What's up with that?! To prepare for my surgery, I had to follow a low carb diet (35 grams of carbs or less per day) to shrink the liver. As my doctor explained it, the liver is kinda like a stiff baseball glove. By eating fewer carbs, the liver is forced to excrete stuff it normally holds on to, causing the liver to shrink and become more pliable. The doctor needs to manipulate the liver during the surgery and needs to be able to move it out of the way. Sorry if I'm not explaining that right.
If anyone who might read this has any questions, please feel free to give me your email address and we can correspondent in more detail.
It's another good day!
In a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG), most of the stomach is surgically removed, leaving a pouch about the size of a medium banana. Unlike Gastric Bypass Surgery (GBS), the intestines are left alone. Sleevers have fewer problems with malabsorption of vitamins because we still have the intestines so the body can absorb the vitamins. The only vitamin I take sublingually, because a pill doesn't get absorbed in the stomach anymore, is a daily B-12 pill. I could also get a shot but that would require one more trip to a doctor. Every day I take multivitamin capsules, Vitamin D, Iron, calcium supplements, and the B-12 sublingual pill.
The VSG is a tool that makes following a healthy eating regimen easier because with the stomach goes a lot of the nerves (hormones?) that cause a person to feel hunger pains. The hunger pains do not go away; I am hungry as I type this. The difference is that I do not want some huge breakfast. I eat a small meal every 3-4 hours, which is how we are supposed to eat but rarely do.
People who might say we took "the easy way out" by having VSG, or any bariatric surgery, aren't familiar with what Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) patients do. We still eat sensibly, still work out, still think about what we eat. As my nutritionist explained it, the pouch controls the quantity, I control the quality.
I had the lap band in 2006 and it worked for a while then I found ways to cheat the band. Ice cream slides down quite nicely with the band. I found myself eating foods that would slide past the band, not foods I should be eating. After avoiding my doctor for over a year because I felt like such a failure, I finally had to give in and see him because I was having band slippage and discomfort. My band was removed in an outpatient procedure on June 22, 2011. It was hard not to indulge in birthday cake on June 20, but I was giving myself the gift of health and it seemed a fair trade-off.
I weighed 300 pounds on the morning of August 4, 2011. The number sticks in my mind because it was such a "round" number. This morning, a little over seven months later, I weighed 247.6. I could not have stuck with a "diet" this long. The sleeve is more liberating than the band because I don't have to constantly worry that something I eat is going to get stuck and come back up. That is not a pleasant experience. With the sleeve, I eat protein first because that takes the longest to digest and gives the feeling of "fullness." I can eat some breads, though I'd rather fill my pouch with something other than bread. Unless, of course, we're talking garlic bread! Ha! Ha! I can visualize a medium banana, so I eat accordingly. I can usually make two meals out of an order at a restaurant, so I order what will "keep" for the next day. Though I can order off the appetizer or child's menu, those foods are not usually the type of food I want to eat. The child's menu at most restaurants consists of fried items or something else I don't want to eat. Sleevers do not drink with their meals and we wait 30 minutes after a meal to drink. This was actually one of the biggest adjustments for me. We don't drink with the meal for two reasons, take your pick. Drinking with the meal makes me full and I don't get in the protein I need, or drinking washes the food through our stomachs more quickly and we don't reap the benefits of feeling full nor do we absorb the vitamins in the food because it washes through the stomach too quickly. I am supposed to eat 60-80 grams of protein every day to help retain muscle while losing weigh.
Seven months out I still have not experienced the hair loss many do. My hair does feel thinner, but I haven't noticed any globs of hair in the drain or on my pillow. Getting in the protein and biotin (in my bariatric multivitamins) helps alleviate the hair loss issue. I am a firm believer in taking the bariatric supplements through Celebrate Vitamins or Bariatric Advantage, not some Flinstones gummy vitamin. Bariatric vitamins are formulated to meet the needs of WLS patients. A couple of months ago my nutritionist told me I could start taking vitamin capsules and not the chewable vitamins. Yay!
The VSG surgery was done in my doctor's surgery suite at the Puget Sound Surgical Center. They kept me overnight to monitor my breathing. With my obesity came severe sleep apnea. I sleep with a CPAP machine and hope that I can stop using it someday, though I sleep better with it.
I have heard various stories from people about what they had to do to prepare for the surgery. Some have had to lose weight in order to have the surgery. What's up with that?! To prepare for my surgery, I had to follow a low carb diet (35 grams of carbs or less per day) to shrink the liver. As my doctor explained it, the liver is kinda like a stiff baseball glove. By eating fewer carbs, the liver is forced to excrete stuff it normally holds on to, causing the liver to shrink and become more pliable. The doctor needs to manipulate the liver during the surgery and needs to be able to move it out of the way. Sorry if I'm not explaining that right.
If anyone who might read this has any questions, please feel free to give me your email address and we can correspondent in more detail.
It's another good day!
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Romantic Weekend
Jim and I took a weekend last week just for ourselves. Privacy has been at a premium lately. I told Jim all he had to do was pack a bag for one night. LOL I booked a nice room at the Silver Cloud Inn in Mukilteo. The room had a fireplace and was right on the water. We could stand in the room and watch the Mukilteo/Clinton ferry come and go. You would think it would be noisy, but it wasn't. Another bonus is that the registered guests at the hotel had to be 21 or older, so there were no kids running up and down the halls.
I asked the ladies I work with whether they would prefer a fireplace or a jacuzzi tub. The ladies unanimously voted for the tub. I asked Jim and he voted for the fireplace. Shows how differently women and men think about what is romantic. At any rate, Jim's vote won. That's all the details you're going to get about the weekend....
I asked the ladies I work with whether they would prefer a fireplace or a jacuzzi tub. The ladies unanimously voted for the tub. I asked Jim and he voted for the fireplace. Shows how differently women and men think about what is romantic. At any rate, Jim's vote won. That's all the details you're going to get about the weekend....
Saturday, January 14, 2012
The Scale vs Me
Why do we have such a love/hate relationship with scales? For years I never weighed myself. I knew my weight was going up, which made me a bad person. Not saying that's true, but what's what I felt. When you grow up hearing how your mother is so ugly because she is fat, then your husband thinks the same way, it's no wonder I avoided the scale. Being made to feel that way made me defiant and passive aggressive about it. It's amazing how the ways we choose to cope with things in our lives as a young person continue to impact the way we think so many years later. But I digress....
I weighed myself earlier this week and it looked like I had gained almost two pounds. Two pounds! Hardly what should have sent me into the tailspin of feeling like I'm such a big, fat loser. I want to be a loser, as in I'm losing weight, but that's not the same. Then this morning I weighed myself and had lost 1.4 pounds from BEFORE I had the two pound gain. I weigh myself every morning, which I know I shouldn't do according to Weight Watchers, but I like seeing the numbers go down. If do they go up, I don't notate it in myfitnesspal.com, but I am aware of it.
"Normal" size people fluctuate in their weight all the time. I've heard that some people fluctuate as much as 10 pounds. They don't freak out about it and tell themselves they're worthless. At least I don't think they do. Why do we larger size people do that to ourselves?
I know rationally it is because mainstream media bombards us daily with images of what "normal" is. Seriously? A normal size person has no hips, no breasts, and bones protruding everywhere? Is Lee Ann Rimes the new normal? I hope not. Marilyn Monroe wore a size 14, but now she would be considered a plus size model. Society is placing too much emphasis on superficial things.
I've lost 46.6 pounds so far. I'm halfway to onederland, that wonderful place where there is no longer a 2 at the front of my weight. I'm doing this to be healthier and, yes, to feel better about myself. Jim thinks I'm beautiful and sexy, which makes me feel that way. I like that feeling! I will NOT allow myself to fall back into the unhealthy feelings about weight that have plagued me all my life. I will say something when another woman says something along the lines of "I'm so bad, I ate a _______." We are not BAD people. If I felt the people who says these kinds of things were just being funny, it wouldn't bother me so much. I think they believe they are bad people because they ate something that might not have been the best choice. Eat it, enjoy it, and move on. We are not what we eat. We are not what we weigh.
God made us in His image. How can we not be beautiful?
I weighed myself earlier this week and it looked like I had gained almost two pounds. Two pounds! Hardly what should have sent me into the tailspin of feeling like I'm such a big, fat loser. I want to be a loser, as in I'm losing weight, but that's not the same. Then this morning I weighed myself and had lost 1.4 pounds from BEFORE I had the two pound gain. I weigh myself every morning, which I know I shouldn't do according to Weight Watchers, but I like seeing the numbers go down. If do they go up, I don't notate it in myfitnesspal.com, but I am aware of it.
"Normal" size people fluctuate in their weight all the time. I've heard that some people fluctuate as much as 10 pounds. They don't freak out about it and tell themselves they're worthless. At least I don't think they do. Why do we larger size people do that to ourselves?
I know rationally it is because mainstream media bombards us daily with images of what "normal" is. Seriously? A normal size person has no hips, no breasts, and bones protruding everywhere? Is Lee Ann Rimes the new normal? I hope not. Marilyn Monroe wore a size 14, but now she would be considered a plus size model. Society is placing too much emphasis on superficial things.
I've lost 46.6 pounds so far. I'm halfway to onederland, that wonderful place where there is no longer a 2 at the front of my weight. I'm doing this to be healthier and, yes, to feel better about myself. Jim thinks I'm beautiful and sexy, which makes me feel that way. I like that feeling! I will NOT allow myself to fall back into the unhealthy feelings about weight that have plagued me all my life. I will say something when another woman says something along the lines of "I'm so bad, I ate a _______." We are not BAD people. If I felt the people who says these kinds of things were just being funny, it wouldn't bother me so much. I think they believe they are bad people because they ate something that might not have been the best choice. Eat it, enjoy it, and move on. We are not what we eat. We are not what we weigh.
God made us in His image. How can we not be beautiful?
Sunday, December 11, 2011
43 Pounds Down
I weighed myself this morning and have lost another 1.6 pounds. I have now lost a total of 43 pounds, down 55 pounds from my highest weight. I put on weight when I lived in Idaho because I was lonely and miserable, so I'd bake cookies and swing by Sonic on my way home from work. Even though I had a fabulous kitchen, it was no fun to cook for just one. Scott was always working, plus I didn't want to monopolize his time.
Having the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG) was the best gift I could give myself. It's not a "cure" for obesity. It's a tool to help curing myself. I (usually) make better food choices, drink my water, go to the gym, walk, and track my progress on http://www.myfitnesspal.com/.
I've met a lot of new people that I consider friends because I've joined several Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) groups on Facebook. Support is important when changing ingrained eating habits, and what I love about these groups is that they will hold me accountable, but they also support and encourage me. I love seeing all their pictures as they lose their excess weight.
Anybody considering something like this should have a good support network. We couldn't do it when we tried all the Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc., groups, and we can't go to those groups now because they actually work against how we should be eating. However much we (well, me) might want to join Weight Watchers and then lose steadily, that isn't ethical or honest. It would just make up for all the times I went and gained a pound from the previous week. :-)
Last night Darling Husband (DH) and I went to dinner and Christmas shopping. We went to Macaroni Grill in the mall. For dinner I had a side Caesar salad and THREE crab stuffed mushrooms off the appetizer menu. I was FULL! I love my sleeve.
TTFN
Having the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG) was the best gift I could give myself. It's not a "cure" for obesity. It's a tool to help curing myself. I (usually) make better food choices, drink my water, go to the gym, walk, and track my progress on http://www.myfitnesspal.com/.
I've met a lot of new people that I consider friends because I've joined several Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) groups on Facebook. Support is important when changing ingrained eating habits, and what I love about these groups is that they will hold me accountable, but they also support and encourage me. I love seeing all their pictures as they lose their excess weight.
Anybody considering something like this should have a good support network. We couldn't do it when we tried all the Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc., groups, and we can't go to those groups now because they actually work against how we should be eating. However much we (well, me) might want to join Weight Watchers and then lose steadily, that isn't ethical or honest. It would just make up for all the times I went and gained a pound from the previous week. :-)
Last night Darling Husband (DH) and I went to dinner and Christmas shopping. We went to Macaroni Grill in the mall. For dinner I had a side Caesar salad and THREE crab stuffed mushrooms off the appetizer menu. I was FULL! I love my sleeve.
TTFN
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