Stacy H.

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Yes I know I am late in posting but I have not been online as much lately. I'm sure as soon as I start typing this Hannah will wake up from her nap and I'll have to run so I need to hurry. Not a whole lot going on really. I have still been training for my marathon and it is going great! Last Sunday I did TWENTY miles :) I was pretty proud as I was only supposed to do 18 that day and decided on my own just to make it an even 20. I finished that in 5hrs and 40min so I do want to improve my speed a little bit on the longer distances but I am glad to know I can do it. I believe I will be able to finish the full for sure by the time Sept 8 gets here.

One problem I have run into with my marathon training is carbs. I still think carbs are evil, they make you hungrier and they add weight faster than anything especially on me. I do love them though! Anyhoo when you are doing these endurance events you have to load up on carbs a couple of days before. I seem to be having a little trouble finding the right balance because I am up a couple of pounds right now. I am still below my goal weight of 130 but I have been about 129 most days for the last week or two which really bothers me. I know it shouldn't but I am used to be closer to 127 and even as low as 125 so I am not happy about it. I know it will come back off though probably as soon as my marathon is done if not before. As long as I do not go over 130 I can deal with it. I am still wearing the same size clothes and have even lost a couple inches here and there somehow. 

Well I better run before Hannah wakes up. I'll upate again next month.

Well I need to write quickly and get my butt in bed but I thought I better update while I was thinking about it. I am closing in on my second surgiversary. Hard to believe that it is only 3 months away now! This month has actually been a pretty good one for me in the milestone department. 

First of all I have been training for my marathon and it is going very well. This past Friday I walked 15.2 miles in 4hrs which is an average of about a 16 minute mile. I was pretty proud to maintain that pace over 15 miles. Also one day in my training last week I finished 5 miles in 1hr 5 min which comes to a 13 minute mile....that was with jogging the first 1/4 mile of each of the 5 miles and walking the rest. I still amaze myself sometimes and it is just a lot of fun to see myself progress. After I did my 15 miles on Friday I honestly was not even tired! I was a little sore in my hips and upper thighs but I was fine the next day. Pretty neat!

My other big milestone is something kind of silly but something I've wanted to do for a long time. I have wanted to be able to get on my husband's shoulders and I did it yesterday! I posted a picture in my gallery. It was a very exciting moment for me to realize I could do that without hurting him. I have really come a long way! Our 4yr anniversary is tomorrow. A lot has changed in 4yrs but one thing that hasn't is that he's still the same great guy he was when I married him and equally as loving and supportive of me today as he was when I was 190lbs when we met or 270lbs when I had Hannah. That is true love!

Well that's about it for me I guess. Everything else is the same as far as weight, size, etc. I did get as low as 125 this month but most days I am 127 or 128. Now I'm just working on my tan (see my new bathing suit pics in my gallery too!!) for the summer. Talk to you all soon!

This is my new slogan! I will be 20 months post op tomorrow and I thought since I had the time today would be a great time to check in. Yesterday I completed my first half marathon! YAY ME! In case you don't know, that is 13.1 miles. I participated in the One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon in Indianapolis. This is the LARGEST half marathon in the entire USA! Pretty cool huh? There were 35,000 participants and I was one of them :) I have been training (although not a lot honestly, I've just done regular exercise and not too many endurance walks) since about January and it paid off because I finished ahead of more than 3,000 people with a time of 3hrs 27min. I don't think that's too bad for my first half. Also I did this race with a friend and she really didn't want to do any jogging. If I had done it alone I would have jogged some and had a faster time. Overall I am thrilled with the experience and so glad I did it. I started a 19 week training program this past Sunday for the FULL marathon (you guessed it, that's 26.2 miles) that is on September 8.....just one day after my two year surgery anniversary. I can't wait to mark that milestone with such a big accomplishment. I really have come a long way and I can't beleive I now enjoy some of the things I do. To top it all off, after walking 13 miles yesterday (more like 15 when you count the walk to and from the car) I came home and did more stuff. I put all of my stuff and Hannah's away (from staying overnight), picked up the house, ran the vacuum, swept the kitchen floor and mopped it and then not only did I walk Hannah down to her grandpa's house I CARRIED HER! I used to not have enough energy just to clean my house let alone do it after walking in a half marathon. I am very proud of myself.

As far as regular updates there isn't much to tell. Still at 127lbs, still wearing the same size (4) and still exercising. With my marathon training I am now doing 3 days a week of 4 miles and then 1 day (usually Sunday) of endurance walk. The endurance walk first week is 8 miles, second week 10, third week 8 again, fourth week 12, and so on until you work your way up to 26. It increases by 2 every other week to minimize injury. I know it will be a real challenge but that's what I want so I can't wait to prove to myself and everyone else that I can do this. I'll post some pics from the half marathon as soon as I get them. Til next time!

Wow this past month just flew by! I don't know where this year is going. Anyway here I am for another update and not much new to tell really. I hope everyone liked the slideshow I made, i thought it was pretty cool! I love to look back at pictures to help me remember where I came from because honestly I don't remember being that person! It is kind of sad in a way and kind of good. I do remember a lot of the mental and emotional side of being MO but I have actually forgotten what it felt like physically. It seems like I have been in this healthy body forever and I am so grateful for my body. It may not be perfect but it is a far cry better than the one I used to have! Like I said nothing much new this month. As I mentioned with my slide show I do have one pair of size 2 jeans now. Crazy isn't it?! They are purty tight but I can wear them and can even sit/breathe and everything LOL. I am wearing 4's consistently though and have not taken my size 6 jeans out in a long, long time as they are too loose. It is funny because not too long ago I made a comment about not being able to wear juniors sizes and now I have two pairs that a friend gave me. In juniors I can only wear a size 7. Well the two pairs she gave me are 7's anyway....now after I wear them once they are too loose and have to be washed but I don't think I could wear a 5. Doesn't matter to me really because juniors don't allow for a lot of butt/hips/thighs so I don't expect to wear the size that coordinates with women's (usually you would be a 4/5 but not me LOL). I did see a drop in the scale this month. The lowest weight I saw was 126.5 just last week. I am making 127 my official weight for this month. I don't really expect it to stay here but we'll see. Anywhere 130 or below is ok with me. I've had some stressful things going on that I think contributed to the loss so I have a feeling it will come back but eiher way is fine. Well I need to get my butt to bed so I'll be back next month with another udate. Happy Easter to everyone and may I never see another piece of evil chocolate candy again!!

I made this slideshow of the first 18 months of my journey. I hope everyone enjoys it! (BTW I have one pair of size 2 jeans now!!!)

Well I know I say this every time but I can't believe how fast the time keeps going. A stinkin year and a half has passed now since my surgery. It is all such a blur. When I think about it I think it really should be no surprise that it is so hard for our minds to keep up with our changing bodies, think of all the change I have experienced in this amount of time. It is just unreal. Nothing new to report really. I did two months of weights at the gym and basically gave it up because it wasn't making a lick of difference. In other words I didn't lose any inches and didn't appear to be more toned. I am not giving up on the concept but I am not going to pay an extra $15/month at the gym to use the damn machines if it's not going to help. I am just doing some free weights and toning exercises at home and went back to cardio only at the gym. I've been going 3-4 days most weeks but the last 2 weeks I've made it there 5 days. I've been using the "Stair Mill" a lot lately. it is made by StairMaster and it is literally a never ending stair case. It is a set of steps that keeps rotating around so you are actually walking up regular steps, not pedals that go up and down. It is a really good work out and it makes me feel great that I can do it because I used to get out of breath going up more than 5 steps and now I can do that thing for 30 minutes and climb over 150 FLIGHTS of steps according to what it tells me!!

I am maintaining everything. I have stayed the same weight and all of my measurements exactly the same for two months now. I can't complain but I would like to see my hips and thighs just a little bit smaller. If it never happens I will survive of course ;) 

Only new thing I can report on is that last night I had my first alcoholic drink since surgery. I haven't waited for any particular reason except that I never drank that much before and I never go out anymore so I don't really have the chance to drink. It didn't affect me in a bad way and I did fine with it so I was happy about that. I actually had two drinks but it was over the course  of 3hrs. I could feel it faster than before but I wasn't drunk, out of control or anything like that. Well that's about it so I'm going to head out of here. I'll be back!!

Well I am snowed in today so I figured this would be as good a time as any to update my blog. I am 17 months post op now. I can't believe that means next month will be a year and a half. It amazes me every single month I swear. The time has passed so quickly it is all just a blur looking back. 

Not a lot new really. This is the first month since my surgery that my stats have stayed exactly the same. Of course that is fine because I am done losing (although losing some more inches would have been ok with me) but it is just weird that EVERY month prior to now I have lost something. That is awesome! I had a few really slow months but my losses continued until I reached my goal. I am recording my official 17 month post op weight as 129, I did see 128 a time or two during the last month but it has not stayed there with any consistency so I won't count it. I am still wearing a size 4, not currently wearing any 6's but I think maybe when shorts weather gets here I possibly will because I don't wear my shorts as tight as I wear my jeans :) I have found I need regular "misses" jeans, my body is not built for juniors sizes. Juniors sizes don't allow for any butt/hips/thighs and that is where I am the heaviest. But hey I can't exactly complain about a 4 right? I don't need to wear juniors, I'm not a kid anymore anyway. Speaking of which though I do have one top that a friend gave me that is an XL in little girls!! LMBO, how funny is that??

Anyhoo, I'm still going to the gym. I have decreased to 3-4 days per week and this past month I started doing weights. To be honest it has not helped at all and I was disappointed. I am going to give it one more month and if I don't see any results I am going to go back the the cardio only (only cheaper) membership. The trainer at the gym said some people's body just react to different types of exercise. I know in the past when I've done floor exercises like leg lifts, walking lunges, etc I have gotten sore. For some reason with lifting weights I just don't get sore and like I said I did not lose any inches. So we'll see what happens this month but if nothing then I'll go back to just cardio at the gym and doing the other stuff at home and see if that helps. I really just want to tone up my legs, arms and abs and I'd like to lose a few more inches from my thighs. They are 19" and used to be 33" so I have come a long way but they still look so big to me :( I also have a droopy, flabby butt so I need to tone it up for my bikini this summer.

Well that's about it from here really. Make sure you check out my gallery. I added some pictures of me and my friend Wendy. We are each in one leg of my old jeans! Those jeans are a size 26. Just before my surgery (in Sept) I was wearing a 28 in shorts that a friend had given me but I didn't have any jeans bigger than 26 and with my surgery coming up I would not buy any. So I used to wear those to work unbuttoned and unzipped with a rubber band holding them shut! I can't believe I used to not even fit in those and now I can fit in them with another adult! It makes me very proud. I have come such a long way and I know it. It is getting harder now, I struggle sometimes with wanting to munch when I am not  hungry but I know how great my life is now and I will never do anything to mess up what I have accomplished. Anyway I've rambled long enough. Talk to you all soon!!

First of all let me say OOPSIE! I can't believe I missed doing a 15 month update. That is the first one I have missed this entire time. I remember now that I sat down and started to write one during Hannah's nap one day and then she woke up and I had to stop and I guess I never realized that I didn't do it. Anyway I guess it's not the end of the world, not like a lot is changing these days.

Well I gotta say I feel like a celebrity or something now LOL. I have had my before and after pics added and now I am getting messages left and right with people telling me how good I look and how inspiring I am. That is SO weird! Now don't think that I mean the people are weird or anything because that's not it, I love to get the messages it is just so surreal. I still have the problem of not seeing what everyone else sees. I mean I know I am thinner but not really anything another person would aspire to be like. I guess it helps for me to hear this from people because it is slowly sinking in over time and my body image is getting a little bit better all the time.

So here I am 16 months post op already. I would say I am at the end of my losing streak and I guess I am supposed to be done now anyway. It's just kinda like "ok what now??" type of feeling. After you are focused on losing weight for so long it is hard to shift gears. Dr Cacucci said she did not want me to get below 130lbs. I personally don't see the big deal if I go under that it's not like I'll be anorexic but I am trying to listen to her for the most part. My big problem is that even though I still have fat I would like to lose on my lower body (hips, butt and thighs) my upper body is getting really skinny, even I can admit that. You can see my breast bone, my collar bones stick out a lot, you can see my spine and ribs through my back when I bend over, etc. When I lose any weight it keeps coming off the wrong area so I do need to stop or I am going to look sick on top. I am generally happy with where I am anyway. I am shifting my focus now to maintaining my weight and toning up. I have changed my gym membership from just cardio only to a regular membership which includes the weigh machines. I am excited to see how toned I can get my arms, legs and abs before summer.

I am thrilled with life these days. Whether I still think my thighs are chubby or not I can't deny how great I have done and I am really proud of myself. I am wearing a size 4 or 6 it depends on the pants. I have 2 pairs of jeans size 4, 1 skirt size 4 and one pair of dress pants size 4 then I have 1 pair of dress pants size 6 and one pair of jeans size 6 but I don't wear them because they are a little bit big. So basically I am a size 4 and that is just freakin CRAZY!!!! I have a BMI of 22.1 which is so totally healthy. It's not even borderline it is well within healthy range. To top it all off I checked my body fat this week at work on our Tanita scale. A healthy range of body fat is 17-24% and mine is only 19%!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe that, how exciting! As of this morning the scale said 128.5. I am not trying to lose anymore but if I drop a few more I would be ok with it. I would like my fluctuation range to be 125-130 rather than 130-135. I know it will fluctuate so I'd prefer it to be the lower range. Either way I know I've done great.

Not much else new. My boobs are great LOL. I think they really compliment my shape now and look very natural (except in a bathing suit maybe, but in clothes they do). They are a great size for my body and I'm very happy I had it done. I have some loose skin on my arms and upper thighs that I would love to get removed but it's just not going to happen unless I win the lottery or something. I can live with it, I'm hoping I can tighten it up some with my new toning routines at the gym. Well that's about it for now I guess. Be sure to check out my pictures. I added a picture from New Year's Day 2006 and then one for 2007 and I could not believe the difference. I am amazing aren't I??!! LOL it feels great to be able to say that! Til next time!!

Well I'm running a little behind on updating but I'm here. I am 14 months post op now! I still can't get over how time flies when you're having fun :) I am doing awesome. I have not been able to exercise for the last month because after my plastic surgery Dr. Laskin wanted me to not exercise for a month. This next week I am planning on getting back into my normal routine and looking forward to that. Somehow without exercise I still managed to lose 5lbs which landed me at a golden milestone. 132lbs....why is this weight so special? Well I weighed 265 at the time of my surgery so that means I have lost HALF of my weight or I'm half the woman I used to be LITERALLY! Another fun way to look at it is that I have now lost more than I weigh, I have lost 133 which I can now say with confidence is an entire freakin person (me)!! I am very happy with this and never could have dreamed I'd feel this way. My boobs have given me a major self confidence boost and I felt better about myself practically overnight. It was like they shrunk my hips in the operating room, I am proportioned now and I feel so much better. Also despite no exercise I lost a few inches still this last month and it has landed me in a size FOUR!!!!!!!! Yes can you believe that? It is totally insane to me. I remember prior to surgery my pie in the sky dream was to be a 7/8 and now here I am. I cannot wear a 4 in all brands but I have 2 pairs of 4's and then 6's I can pretty much wear consistently in any brand. I feel amazing about that. My mind still needs to do some major catch up. I can STILL look in the mirror and think I look fat, especially my thighs, but I am working on body image and I'm sure eventually it will catch up. I am pretty much done trying to lose weight but I'm not trying to stop it yet either. I wouldn't mind getting down to 129.5 just to be in the 120's LOL then I'll stop I swear :) If I didn't lose another pound I would be a happy woman anyway. I wish I had the money to get a thigh lift or lower body lift done, I don't think it will ever happen unless we win the lottery but a girl can dream right? I am looking forward to buying a bikini next summer to show off my new girls. My stomach still looks fine it's just those damn thighs that look like sharpei puppies :( I'll probably still go with a skirted bottom but a regular bikini top. Either way I am happy. Well that's about it so I'll go but I'll be back next month.

Well my surgery went well and I took some pics I wanted to post here. I am feeling pretty good, the pain was pretty bad this morning but I have only taken 2 pain pills today and feeling ok. It is definately worth the pain I've had to this point and I am very happy with the results from surgery. I posted some before and afters.