Carmie08

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Hello All,

Just thought I would drop a few lines since it has been a few weeks since I posted anything.  Things are going pretty well for me right now.  As for the weight loss, I'm down to 238lbs for a total loss of 93lbs since surgery and 108lbs down since Feb 2007.  I have to say that God is good!  I am currently wearing a size 18 which is just crazy.  I haven't seen an size 18 in years.

I want to take a moment to give a few words of encouragement.  This journey isn't an easy one by any means and please don't allow anyone to tell you otherwise.  Yes, we have an extra tool, but the work is still hard because you have got to retrain your mind and your activity life in order for the tool to be successful.

I also encourage you to take the time to remember where you used to be and where you are now when you are going through a plateau or just one of those moments when you are not feeling your best.  This brief look at your past can help you to keep pressing on and it can also help you to keep your diet under control, because you don't want to go back to the way you used to be.

My life was ok before my wls, however, since I have loss weight, my life is better in a lot of areas and I'm excited about doing some things that I have never experiened before, like hiking.  Weight has a way of keeping you in a box, limiting you from experiencing certain things in life.

I thank God for giving me a new lease on life and health.  I never really thought about how much weight I was caring around on my 5'7 frame body. But if you were to put 103lbs in a bag, I couldn't carry it. 

To all be blessed and keep pressing toward the mark!

I went to see Dr. K yesterday and all was great!  He told me that I was doing extremely well with the weight loss and to keep up the good work and exercise.   

At my 3 month post op appointment I weighed 279, so I had lost an additional 36lbs.  I am 12lbs away from my 100lbs goal.

I'm excited about reaching that goal.  They did blood work to make sure that I was getting in enough vitamins and calcium of course.  So I'm waiting to hear back on that.  I've made  lot of important decisions in my life, and having this surgery is one decision that I don't regret having!

To all be blessed and encouraged!

Hello All,

It's been almost a month since I last added to my blog.  I can't believe how time flys by.  Well, I go tomorrow to see Dr. K for my 6 month appointment.  I'm excited and full of emotions.  I was hoping to be down 100lbs by this time.  However, I am blessed to have lost 84lbs as of 2 weeks ago.  I haven't weighed since then, so maybe I'm down a little bit more.
Weight Breakdown from the start of my journey
Started at 346lbs
Loss 10lbs with Weight Watchers = 336lbs
Loss 5lbs on liquid diet before surgery = 331lbs
Loss 84lbs as of 2 weeks ago = 247lbs

Since I've started I've loss 99lbs and 84lbs since the day of surgery!

God is good!

I have so much going on in my personal life right now, that I'm trying to get straight, so I haven't been doing the best on my eating/diet.  I'm not doing as bad as I could be, but I'm sure eating some stuff that I shouldn't be, like chips.  Thankfully, I haven't gained any weight, the weight loss has slowed down.  I still work out like I should and I'm still enjoying it. 

The lessons that I ahve learned over the course of this journey:
(they are in no specific order)

1.  Life is too short to be sad, depressed and angry
2.  Weight is only a number, not a measure of your outer or inner beauty
3.  Shopping for me is a lot of fun, but must be done in moderation
4.  Having a great support group is vital to your wls success
5.  Love yourself in all stages of this journey, it is vital to encourage  yourself on a daily basis.
6.  Don't constantly complain about what you look like or don't look like, the word tells us that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made". 
7.  The mirror can be your friend or your enemy.  I choose it to be my friend to remind me how beautiful I am.  I'm no longer afraid to look at myself naked.
8.  It's good to treat yourself when you have accomplished a goal
9.  Set realistic goals and stick to them
10. Weightloss can change a lot of things in your life for the good and in some cases bring about some not so positive things.  However, in all things we are to trust God and lay our burdens at His feet and leave them there.  This act gives us peace beyond our own understanding!

To all be blessed and keep on keeping on!

Much Love!

Hello All,

I hope that my blog will find that you all are doing well on your WLS journey.  I'm still doing great!  Life is one big lesson right after another.  We are often taught in church about the power of the tongue. We have to be careful about what we speak, because we have put our words/thoughts into the atmosphere and I believe that if we speak it enough, it will come to pass.  We decide daily what type of day we are going to have, as well as the type attitude we are going to have; we ultimately decide our destiny. 

I'm sure that you are wondering where I'm going with this   What I'm saying is speak blessings over yourself, opposed to talking about your aches, pains, disappointments etc.  We often miss the small blessings that God gives us on a daily basis, because we are consumed with our struggles and circumstances.

There are times when I want to complain and so on, but God often convicts my heart and I have to say thank you and give Him praise at that moment for my blessings.  I thank God for the opportunity to have this surgery and to be doing as well as I am.  I didn't have any complications and I haven't experienced any since my surgery.  The last time I weighed myself I was down 81lbs and that was 2 weeks ago.

At this stage in my weightloss journey, I think that I am doing extremely well.  I have been slacking a little this week on my exercise and diet, but I don't stay off track for long, because I refuse to go back to where I came from.  I know that God didn't bring me this far for me to mess it up and head back down the old path.  By any means, don't allow someone to try and make you feel as though you took the easy way out to lose weight.  To me working this tool is definitely hard work and I see how it is harder in many areas than when I was trying to lose weight on my own. 

I encourage you all that have had the surgery to keep on pressing toward your goal.  There are going to good days and bad days, but I promise you, your good days will outweigh your bad days.  For those who are just beginning the journey (contemplating the surgery, etc) know that all things are possible with Christ and with His guidance you will make the right decision for yourself. 

For everyone, the race isn't given to the swift nor to the strong, but to the one that endures until the end.  We have come a long way on this journey and for us to be truly successful we must endure this journey until the end.  My friend always says, "FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION".  Well, God never fails and therefore, if we continue to trust in Him, we will be VICTORIOUS on this journey!

Be Blessed!

Hello Friends,

I hope that everyone is doing well!  I am blessed and highly favored!  This week has been a little rough for me, my grandmother, passionately called "Nanny" passed on to Glory, on Wednesday, August 16th, which was also her 86th birthday.  It was very unexpected.  Death is not an easy thing for anyone, however, because my family knew that she belonged to God, we know that she is now with Christ.  So, we celebrated her home going on yesterday. 

My Nanny was a very special woman, one who had a quiet strength, one who was humble, loving and giving.  She loved her children, grand children and her great-grandchildren with a love that will never be forgotten by us.  To those of you who still have your parents and grandparents, please treasure them and love them with a never ending love.  I have now lost all of my grandparents.  I thank God for the time that my son and I had with all of them.  We are the people we are today, because of them.  They all knew Christ and had a relationship with Him, and that is so special than anything to me.

On a more upbeat note, I weighed at my Mother's this weekend and I am officially down 81lbs. I was so excited.  I lost an additional 5lbs this past week.  I had been losing a pound a week for the past few weeks, so it was nice to see more than a pound gone.  My goal is to be down 100lbs by the end of the year.  However, if the loss is over the 100lbs, I will be estatic!

I'm very proud of myself for making this tool work for me.  I have become a little more open with letting family members know that I had the gastric bypass.  It wasn't so much of being of ashamed as it was that I still feel people are ignorant when it comes to the surgery.  I had a cousin to tell me she was proud that I decided to take control of my health and in essence my destiny.  As I've said before diabetes and high blood pressure runs on both sides of my family and I felt as though I didn't have a choice but to take control of my own health.

So here's a breakdown of my weight loss now:  Feb. 2007 weighed in at 346lbs.  Loss 10lbs with weight watchers now at 336lbs.  Lost 5lbs on the liquid diet, now at 331 at surgery.  Total loss since Feb '07 is 96lbs, loss since WW 86lbs and 81lbs since surgery.  So that's around 20.25lbs a week.   My Happy Dance!

To all be blessed and encouraged in knowing that anything is possible with Christ!

Hello All,

This weekend I went to a wedding back home and I had a blast.  I will post pictures from the event at a later date.  It was funny to see a lot of old friends and some family who hadn't seen me in a while.

People were doing double takes, as they did not recognize me the first time.  It was a lot of fun to say the least.  You also couldn't tell me that I wasn't cute, LOL!  I was rocking a nice summer dress and a new hair do.  My cousin told me that I was getting "brand new" on them. 

In the past 3 weeks, I've only lost 4lbs.  It's not as much as I would like, but I will take the loss as opposed to a gain.  I would love to go back to losing 15 or so in 2 weeks, however the down side to losing it so fast is dealing with the extra skin, yuck!

I have started kicking up my protein and now I need to workout a little longer and do more of a variety of workouts to rev up the fat burn and weight loss.

To all who are now on the Victory Bench, congratulations and keep up the good work.  To all who are going through the process to get to the VB, keep on pressing forward and pressing toward the mark of prize you are trying to obtain!

Be blessed and encouraged!

Hello all, I am doing pretty good in my wls journey.  I have lost an additional 3 pounds.  It may not seem like a lot, but any loss and no gain is a victory for me.
I also wanted to share a poem that was given to me at the beginning of the year.  I keep this on my desk to read every once in a while when I need my spirits lifted.   
 It is entitled
 
"A New Year's Prayer"
Dear Lord, please give me...
A few friends who understand me and remain my friends;
A work to do which has real value, without which the world would be the poorer;
A mind unafraid to travel,
even though the trail be not blazed;
An understanding heart;
A sense of humor;
time for quiet, silent meditation;
A feeling of the presence of God;
The patience to wait for the
coming of these things,
with the wisdom to recognize them when they come.
Amen
Author - anonymous

May this poem encourage you all as it has me.

Be blessed!
Carmen

I am so very excited!!!!  I am now down 8 dress/pant sizes.  When I started the process, I was wearing a size 26/28.  I am currently wearing a solid size 20.  Over the weekend I borrowed a skirt from my mom and I was afraid that it was going to be too small, but it fit really well and looked good on me.  I just assumed it was a size 22, but when I took it off and looked at the tag, it was a size 20.  Even at that point it didn't hit me.

Well I ordered a size 20 in jeans online from the Avenue.  I figured they would be something that I would be able to work into.  Well, they came in today and I tried them on thinking, they are going to be a little too small, but they actually fit and looked really good and they are not even the stretch jeans.  They are 100% cotton.  You know I had to check out the type of fabric they were.

I am so excited, now of course my ultimate goal is to be wearing a size 12/14.  But believe me when I say that I am so estatic to be wearing a 20, seeing as though it's been almost 20 years since I have worn a size 20. Ha!

Well this is all for now.  To all who are now post-op keep up the good work and keep on pushing forward.  To all who are in the process, keep the faith and be encouraged that your day is coming.

Much Love!

Hello All,  just wanted to let you know that the Color Purple play is awesome.  I went with my Mother this past weekend, it was our Mother and Daughter trip.  Fantasia wasn't in this production but the cast that they have is fabulous.  The singing was fantastic and so was the acting.

If anyone has the opportunity to go and see it, please do, you will not be disappointed at all.  I have a few pictures that we took from the trip on here.  We couldn't take pictures in the theatre.  I wish I could have because the theatre was beautiful.  It was the Fox Theatre downtown Atlanta.

Well to all be encouraged and blessed!

Hello All!

This week has been a pretty good week for me.  I lost one pound.  Initially, I was a bit disappointed, but then I thought about it, 1lb isn't that bad because I could have had no loss at all.  I also realized that the faster it comes off the more excess skin I will have.  I'm really not trying to have that, so I can deal with with the loss being a little slower than it was in the first month or two.  I've slowed my workouts down some, I'm working out 3 to 4 days a week instead of 6 days a week.  I notice that the dizzy spells have gone since slowing down.  However, knowing me, I will pick up at least one more day to make it 5 days.  I really enjoy working out and of course the benefits from it are awesome.

I can tell that I am able to eat a lot more than before, I don't measure my food, but I would say that it is around 3 to 4oz a sitting.  Sometimes I feel like I'm eating too much at one sitting, but when I visualize what I actually ate, I'm not doing too bad at all.  I am eating a lot of raw veggies and fruit, however, those things don't have a lot of protein.  I have to push the protein by adding a shake to my diet.  I do try to eat all of the protein before eating anything else during my meals, just to make sure that I get it in.  I've been eating a lot of salads lately, mostly grilled chicken ceasar salads.

My energy comes and goes, so I am pushing my vitamins and B-12.  I've been slacking on my calcium, so I've got to start back pushing that again too.  I've been using a site called www.sparkpeople.com.  It is an awesome site to help you keep track of your diet, excercise and motivation, check it out if you can.  The service is free and the founder of the site has a wonderful story about how he got started and why. 

To all going through the process, be encouraged and to those already on the "Victory Bench", keep up the good work!  Success is always possible with Christ!