Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Week 15 -

70 Pounds folks!  I've lost 70 pounds! 
 

 
Here are progress pictures so far taken by the lovely Gail.  October is on the left.  November is second from the left.  December is in the yellow shirt and the purple was January's picture. 


I have a ton more to write but I have to go get my girls from daycare so I'll update on Thursday! 

Until then... 

High Weight: 324
Starting Weight: 318
Surgery Weight: 300
Current Weight: 254
Total lost: 70 pounds! 



































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Thursday, January 14, 2016

Week 14



I lost 1 pound over the past week.  I'm happy with this.  I've been busting my butt at the gym the past week and lifting weights.  I'm doing low weights and high reps, so the slowness should be temporary. 

I can't remember if I shared or not (and frankly I'm too lazy to go back and look).  I took a yoga class last week.  I was shocked that, even though my abs were screaming at me for days, I really liked it. 

And so, in my new found love for yoga, I did what any normal person would do and signed up for a month of unlimited classes at a yoga studio around the corner.  Normal people would have signed up for 1, maybe 2 classes a week.  Not me...  I signed up for 17 classes over the next month. 

Have I mentioned that I'm an "all or nothing" type of person?  Yea, here's just one example. 

HW: 324
SW: 318
Surgery Weight: 300
Current Weight: 256
Total Lost: 68 pounds

Until next week... 

Monday, January 11, 2016

3 months

It's been three months and 3 days since my surgery.  It still seems unreal.  I doubted if I would even be approved for the surgery, let alone have it and being on the road to getting healthy.  I've come a long way, but I can't let that stop me from going even farther. 

I've been letting crap food sneak back into my diet.  I've told myself a few bites of a cheese steak here, a slice of pizza there...  it's fine.  Except that it's not.  I've had a food addiction for a long time.  Food soothes me.  When I was upset, bored, tired, happy, food was there.  It made me feel better until it didn't anymore.  And then I'd add in more food.  It's an unhealthy relationship that I'm working on breaking.  Except I feel like it will always be there.  This is not a diet, it's a lifestyle.  Those who say surgery is the easy way out are DEAD WRONG.  I work every single day.  The diet, the fluids, the exercise, it consumes me. 

Those that may be thinking about having this surgery, please don't do it if you doubt you can keep up with it.  It is a constant thing that you have to work on.  It's my life.  You have to do it for YOU.  If you're thinking about doing it for anyone other than yourself, you are setting yourself up for failure.  My husband and my kids played a large part in my decision, but mainly I did it for myself.  So I could get down and play with my kids, not the other way around.  My kids loved me when I weighed 324 pounds and they love me now.  In fact, they haven't even noticed my weight loss. 

This is harder than a diet.  If I overeat on a diet I kicked myself and either moved on or stopped the diet all together.  I cannot do that with this.  If I overeat I feel ill.  I may pay for it for a day or two.  It reminds me that I never want to feel that way again.  It's physical pain, not just mental. 

I know I've said this before, but I'm going to beat a dead horse.  Exercise is a huge part of this journey.  I don't want saggy skin.  I really cannot have surgery to remove it so exercise is my only option.  I lift weights at the gym.  I do crunches.  I've challenged myself to start interval training.  I've begun doing the elliptical machine.  I may only be able to do these things for 2-3 minutes, but it's better than NOT doing them at all.  Not having time to exercise is not an excuse.  If I have time to be on facebook, I have time to exercise.  One does not have to join a gym.  There are PLENTY of exercises that can be done with your body alone.  Equipment is not necessary.  Get down on the floor and do some crunches.  Go for a walk outside (the cold isn't an excuse either, bundle up).  Do a plank!  Do something!  Get your body moving! 

This is not directed at anyone except myself.  I'm writing this so I can come back and read it on the days where I want to stay in bed all day and not do a thing except eat popcorn and sleep all day. 



Thursday, January 7, 2016

Week 13


Down 5.8 pounds in the past 3 weeks! 
 
Considering my goal was to simply maintain during the holidays, I'm pretty happy with the outcome! 
 
Tomorrow will be 3 months since my surgery.  I had an apt with my doctor on Tuesday, he was very happy with my outcome thus far.  He said I'm above average with where he thought I'd be right now and at my next apt (in April) he expects me to be about 90 pounds down. 
 
I'm having a love/hate relationship with the gym right now.  I hate getting out of my cozy bed to go.  But, once I get there I'm happy.  I have been pushing myself pretty hard core.  I'm doing free weights as well as the weight machines.  I'm also doing HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) on the treadmill.  Let me put it out there...  I HATE running.  Really I do.  However, I'm challenging myself to run/jog/walk a 5k for preeclampsia in May.  I walked a 5k in November and I was the last one to finish.  That will not be my this time around! 
 
I now officially have all of my baby weight off.  I weigh less now than I did when I got pregnant with Zoey.  Only by 3 pounds, but less is less!  My next goal is to fit into my wedding dress (which I have to find).  Our 10 year anniversary is coming up and it would be wild to be able to fit back into it and just chill watching a movie with some popcorn.  :-)  If I remember right, I was about 235 when we got married so I have approximately 20 pounds to go to get there. 
 
I've been good about getting my fluids in for the most part.  The gym also helps with that since I drink a bottle and a half when I'm there most days.  My food choices could be better, but they also aren't the worst that they've been. 
 
Oh!  I started taking a yoga class!  My township offers a free class every Tuesday night.  A friend and I just started going this past Tuesday.  Yoga is HARD work!  My abs are kind of screaming at me right now.  I figured out I'm more flexible than I thought I was.  Also?  I was able to get on the FLOOR on both knees!  For those that don't know, I have knee reconstruction back in 2008 and it's been super hard for me to do anything on the floor since then. 
 
So that's that for this week. 
 
HW: 324
SW: 318
Surgery Weight: 300
Current Weight: 257
Total lost: 67
 
Until next week...