SKmammabear

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I now weigh less than the amount that I lost!  I weigh 177 and have lost 178 pounds.  I finally exceeded my "original" goal from when I first talked to my doctor of 180.  Now that I'm below that, I will work on getting to my final goal of 150ish.  I'm not sure where my final weight will end up, but I will land where I land.  Going where the wind takes me so to speak.  I do need a tummy tuck and talked to her last week about that.  She asked if I wanted them to start checking insurance for me and I actually turned her down.  (WHAT!?!?) I want to get closer to my goal weight and maintain that for a little bit before trying.  I have the feeling that insurance won't pay for it, so I will have to start stashing a lot of money aside.  Then if they do pay for it, I'll have money to play with.  Haha!  Like that will happen!   Less chance of being totally disappointed so soon too.  

I've been sick the last few days and not been eating as much, so I'm sure I'll have a little bounceback before losing more again.  That's ok, I'm prepared for it.  It's not so much the number on the scale now as I feel so much better than I did at 355 pounds.  I really do feel better and have so much more energy to do be able to live life again.  I don't like getting sick though because not only do I not feel like eating, it is doubly hard to get in my vitamins and water.  I'm sure some of that is attributed to my being weak and balance being off.  

So, rejoice I will at being literally half the person I used to be!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016!!

Jan 7, 2016 It’s been officially just over ONE YEAR since I got home from my life-changing bariatric surgery. I’m so happy I had it done. I have been able to accomplish many milestones over the past year that was on my list of reasons to have surgery! I have surpassed every expectation I ever thought I’d have. I have gone from 355 pounds at my highest and right now I’m at 190! That is a grand total so far of 165 pounds lost, and a total of 66 ¼” lost! Not too much longer and I will hit the amount I told Dr. Srikanth I wanted to hit – 180. Then I will decide on my final weight goal. I am looking forward to many new accomplishments in this New Year. That will include going on my very first cruise ship ever with my CSG friends. I’m even doing a 45 day challenge in Kickboxing now in hopes of winning some money too! I have to get in several sessions to qualify, send in new pictures before/after challenge, weight change and a video telling about my journey for the 45 days. I had my friend Catherine (from work) take my pictures and got the application in. I’m down one more pound from sign up. I have discovered I CAN eat things that I shouldn’t, but I pay dearly for it with horrible gas and bloating. I feel sorry for people around me when the gas explodes! Even now, I’m having head hunger out of boredom and wanting to munch on something not good for me. It’s a hard thing to overcome, but I will use my tool and NOT graze! I do have lots of sagging skin on my arms, belly, hips and legs. One day, ONE DAY I plan on having skin removal surgery to take care of that, but for now, most of it gets covered up in clothing. The only place most people would see is my huge batwings. I will continue to work out, drink lots of water and let my body hopefully absorb some more of the skin. The few people who have seen me are surprised I don’t have more excess than I do.  I’m still a work in progress and hope by this time next year I can say that I have hit and maintained my goal weight of…. TBD !  (Picture in comments)

Merry Christmas,  Happy  Hanukkah, whichever you prefer!  So my daughter asked to go run errands with her today.  We did most of them, then she decided she wanted to go to the mall.  Here's where the NSV comes in.   I was able to keep up with her the entire time we were there.  And I was walking in fairly new boots for the first time!  We got just about all of our Christmas shopping done.   I haven't shopped in the mall for years!   I usually had to hit up Walmart since it's close.  I got stuff for my hubby we can't get at Walmart!   So proud of myself!

Yesterday my family and I walked in another 5K.  It was for the Neurofibromatosis (NF) Childrens Tumor Foundation (CTF).  My son's girlfriend has this condition which can cause tumors to grow on nerve endings throughout the body.  She has a very mild form of it but has bone abnormalities due to her condition. She doesn't let it stop her though.  I was very happy to support her in this cause to help research for it.  Before the actual 5K, we warmed up with ZUMBA...  I was able to dance for the entire session and then while waiting we were dancing/moving around while the festivities were getting ready.  I had my 5000 steps for my fitbit done before we even started the 5K.  We walked, we jogged, we had so much fun enjoying each other and the nature, beauty around us.  My hips did start to hurt a little, but I still had ENERGY to keep moving.  I ended up with almost 20000 steps on my fitbit!  When it was time to go to bed, I felt like I still had energy and stayed up way too late...  I had to work my 12 hour shift today and even though I didn't get much sleep, I'm still going strong.  I find it so hard to believe I have lost 137 pounds so far!  That is a whole person!!  I still see myself as a big girl and have the mentality of that big girl but because of the ENERGY I have now that helps me to remember I'm not that same fat girl in the mirror that I used to be!  I'm getting so close to being in onderland that I can almost taste it...  only 19 pounds left.  I am so extremetly happy that I was able to have this surgery to save my life and to let me be ABLE to ENJOY my life once again! 

That's right.  I DID IT!!  I actually FINISHED a 5K officially and did it in just under an hour!  It was a color run and my daughters family did it with me.  I'm so proud of myself for actually completing it.  Did I run the whole thing?  Heck NO!  I have never been a runner, but I did run/jog down the hills.  We were covered in blue, yellow, orange, silver glitter and bubbles.  It was a mess, but we all had such a great time doing it.  I was sore - my butt of all places - which kind of surprised me since I have been doing kickboxing and some hiking, but haven't hiked in a bit.  I'm scheduled for another 5K run in a couple of weeks involving lots of bubbles this time.  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I'd be doing 5K's as a participant.  But this just goes to show that all this hard work of having the surgery is very much worth it.  I'm so very thankful and glad I was able to finally get the surgery and be able to participate in life with my kids and grandkids!

I went to my surgeons office for my monthly checkup and they had wonderful news for me!  In fact THREE things.  I have lost more than 100 pounds since they met me (I'm down 125 from my highest weight).  My blood pressure was 109/74 and she suggested I talk to my primary care doctor about either taking me completely off my BP meds or reducing them.  And the best news of all is that my BMI now shows that I am no longer considered morbidly obese (just obese now) and that she was more than happy to remove that from my chart!  WOO HOO!!  I'm feeling better than I have in years.  I still have a long way to go, but I'm on my way.  I'm getting more energy and able to do things I could only dream of while 355 pounds.  I'm doing a 5K color run on Sunday and can't wait to find myself actually finishing this one!  I'm sure it will be no problem since I have gone on family hikes of almost 10 miles and doing kickboxing a couple of times a week.  Anyone reading this who is contemplating having this surgery, take it from me...  it is SO worth all the blood, sweat and tears that go with it. 

Only 2 more pounds and I will hit my 100 pound mark!  WHAT???!!!???  It doesn't seem real, that's for sure!  I still feel like my self, only with the baggier clothes.  I don't see it in the mirror most days, but when I put up a side by side of myself, I finally saw it.  It will take time...  I'm not quite to my half way point.  I have had so much more energy. 

I told my daughter that on my weekends off I want to go walking or hiking - something to get my body moving.  Even going on days during the week during the summer on days I'm off so we can take the kids with us.  We had gone on a walk a couple of weeks ago and it was almost 7 miles.  I was so exhausted after we were done with that one and it was flat.  We are going on this Sunday for an 8 mile hike.  I think my  daughter is trying to kill me off on this one.  4 miles up, 4 miles back out in the woods on the shore of Lake Crescent outside of Port Angeles, WA.  It should be beautiful from the pictures I researched.  

I have also started kickboxing to get my dormant muscles to wake up again.  I have been a big girl for so many years and haven't used most of the muscles in my body.  I need to begin filling in some of the loose skin with muscles now!  haha!   I'm actually doing the kickboxing with a couple of ladies I work with.  We have vowed to help each other stay motivated for the next year to go.  It is so much fun!  I work most every muscle in my body during the hour long class and the hour actually goes by really fast.  I noticed the other day I'm beginning to kick higher up on the bag, and getting the bag to move on the floor once in a while with my punching.

I told the people I work with today that I'm only two pounds away from 100 and as I was going to lunch our lab lady said she had something for me.  She produced a 4-leaf clover for me and said it's to bring me good luck for hitting 100!  I have NEVER seen a real 4-leaf clover...  except in pictures.  It's going into my book! 

I had a work meeting the other day with other employees that I haven't seen in quite a while.  (I work in a satellite office where I'm the only one doing my job here.)  While trying to figure out where I was going, my boss (who HAS seen me) and a couple ladies got off the elevator.  One of them gave me a great big hug and asked me where the other half of me was!  That was the first NSV!  The second was during the meeting.  We took roll call and got involved in our meeting.  A gal I haven't seen in quite a while was sitting directly in front of me.  I thought it was weird that she didn't actually say Hi to me when she sat down, but figured she was just in a hurry to find a seat.  Anyway...  after our break, I came back in and sat down.  The gal in front of me turned around and said, "I didn't even recognize you!  I heard your name called and was wondering where you were, but I didn't even recognize you...  You look beautiful!"  WOW!!  That was one of the BEST complements I have EVER heard!!  I'm not even half way thru my losing, I've "only" lost 88 pounds, but I guess that's enough to make a HUGE difference!!  I'm loving my DS!!! 

I went to my regular doctor on Thursday for the first time in quite a while and he requested the dreaded blood tests for cholesterol and diabetes.  He had told me for the last few years that I was boarderline diabetic and my cholesteral was high.  Even though I have seen my surgeon many times and had blood tests, for some reason this particular blood test had me nervous.  I have tried to deny for years that I could be getting diabetes, so I was nervous to see my regular doctor for this visit.  To my surprise, he was very excited when I told him I had my surgery (he had put the bug in my ear several years ago after watching me go up and down on my diet rollercoaster that I would qualify for gastric surgery.) He showed me the graph of my weight history and it was so cool to see the drop from the last time to now.  Then came the time to go over my lab results...  I brought the last group from my surgeon to look at and he said they looked great.  Then he let me know my A1C was 5.. (For people without diabetes, the normal range for the hemoglobin A1c test is between 4% and 5.6%)  Then he said my LDL level was absolutely normal too.  Wow!  What a sigh of relief!  Now I will go to my surgeon for another checkup on Monday and see what they have to say.  Gotta love my DS! 

Today is the day I have been looking forward to for a very long time.  I have finally made it out of the 300's and into the 200's for the first time in many, many years!  I weighed in at 299!  I'll take it!  That was my first goal of this journey and I made it!  Woo Hoo!!!  Next goal will be to get under 250 - that is the weight limit on my bouncer.  (mini trampoline?  exerciser?  Not sure the actual name of it)

I saw my surgeon for my two week follow up, which actually was a three week due to the timing.  It's not very often you hear your doctor tell you that you are doing really good!  That was so good to hear!  He took my hand in his and said my new stomach is about the same size as my ring finger -  about six inches.  I laughed because my fingers are NOT even close to being that long!  But it was a nice comparason to know about how big it is at this point.  I don't go back for another month and then it will be to see the nurse practitioner from here out.  I will miss being able to see him, but I'm sure it's not the last I'll actually see of him.  Still on liquid diet and I really want to eat...  chew...  taste...  Getting really tired of drinking water and protein.  I still have to let my tummy heal though.  We did go to dinner for Bianca's birthday on Wednesday and I ordered eggs, hashbrowns and toast.  I mixed one egg with some of the hashbrowns and was able to eat only a couple of bites of them and some of the bacon, but it sure tasted good! 

Today I came to work and saw a co-worker that I haven't seen in a while and when she saw me, she gave me this really funny look.  A while later, I weighed myself and she was just staring at me.  When I came off the scale, she was still staring at me then finally said, "You are losing weight, aren't you?  I was trying to figure out what was different, and couldn't figure it out!"   Today it's a total of 56# gone.  So nice to know that people are starting to notice.