Bliss :)

Giddy Giddy Giddy!

Nine months ago I wore a size 32. Most people don't even know what that means....they can't comprehend how big a size 32 is.

Me, at a size 32

Today, I went shopping and I fit into a size 16 pair of jeans. There are no words to describe the sheer JOY and absolute giddyness!!!!!!!!! But maybe this picture can convey it a little.....

Me, a size 16!!!

It's Been 14 Years.....

On Sunday, something amazing happened. I weighed in and saw the scale read

218 pounds

So what, you might say. Big freakin' deal - you're still a fat chick. Oh but wait. I haven't weighed less than 220 pounds since 1996. NINETEEN-FREAKIN-NINETY SIX people!!!! I was 21 years old. And today, I saw the scale scream 217. And it made me giddy.

OH HAPPY DAY!!!

This is the most recent pic I have, but I've lost four pounds since it was taken. (162 total) JoyJoy! Life is SO good, and I am SO lucky!

Lemon Drop Shake

Tried a new protein shake today. It was yum yum!

12 oz of Skim Milk

1 1/2 TBSP of Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla Yogurt

1 TBSP of Sugar Free Lemon Instant Jello Pudding Mix

3/4 scoop of Vanilla protein powder

1 TBSP Cool Whip Lite

Blend, blend, blend. Sip, sip, sip.

I actually put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes to try to make it thicker and frosty cold. It didn't get as thick as I would have liked but I think next time I'll use 10oz of milk and add a few frozen strawberries to thicken it up.

29.8 grams of protein

286 calories

5 grams of fat

27.2 grams of carbs

23.5 grams of sugar

Dump Dump Dumpity Dump

I'm not a very good blogger, obviously. I've actually been keeping a list in my purse of things I want to either blog or vlog about, but the days just seem to roll on by and the blogs don't get written. It's naptime at my house and I was just laying on the couch taking in the refreshing sound of quiet when I realized that this would be a good time to blog.

And the topic for today is not on my 'list' but it's something we talked about at my surgeon's support group this week: Dumping Syndrome. It's not something all of us gastric bypass babies do, so I feel very lucky to have this tool as a part of my weight loss surgery. I was worried I'd be one of the non-dumpers, but nope, I dump - and boy am I glad.

The dumping experience as well as the foods that cause dumping are different for everyone. No one body is the same as the next. I can only write about my own dumpisodes and let you know what it's like for me. I had my surgery on November 11, 2009 and I'm 9 months out. I've dumped about six times in those 9 months, but all of my dumping has been with 'safe' foods.

Here's a list off the top of my head of foods that have had me on my knees:

bananas

sugar free ice cream

mangoes

yogurt

sugar free pudding

graham crackers

Here's a list of foods that I've tried post-op that have NOT caused me to dump:

cake

cookies

cupcakes

WHAT?? I know, right? But here's the thing - each time I've tried something like a piece of cake or a cookie I've had a teeny tiny piece. I've had cake maybe three times, and the piece I had was literally one inch squared. That's it. Just a taste.....enough to satisfy but no where near enough to make me sick. I'm fairly certain that my body would strongly retaliate if I tried to feed it six donuts and a package of Oreo cookies. ;) The items that have caused me to dump were things that I tried as a post-op but didn't know that they'd make me sick. If you're body is going to dump after surgery I don't think there's anything you can do to prevent it from happening on some foods, because the only way to KNOW something is going to make you dump is learn through experience.

In nine months, here are some things I have learned about MY body in regards to dumping:

• I can eat half of a banana or a mango. More than that and I'm done for.
• If I want a sugar free ice cream cone I have to order a SMALL and then throw half in the garbage - or pay for it 20 minutes later!
• Something that I ate with no problem today may make me sick tomorrow. (Like my strawberry protein shake for instance.)
• Graham crackers are not for me. Oh the pain!
• Sugar free yogurt is fine. Sugar free yogurt with fruit plus cool whip = BAD

Those are the guidelines that my body has set for me thus far and I know that as long as I follow my body's rules I'll be okay.

Oh, and what does dumping feel like? For me....it's like being seasick, carsick or just plain DRUNK minus the fun parts. Once I'm heading into dumpville it's lights out for me. The only relief I get is to lay down and go to sleep. I feel exhausted, dizzy, cold, sweaty, lightheaded and just play SICK. Some people get diarrhea with dumping syndrome, but that's not a part of it for me. I do feel like I want to vomit - but I don't. And man, I sure wish I could. It's like being drunk and you know that throwing up will make it better but you just can't.

So that's dumping in a nutshell for me. What's it like for you?

New Picture!

148 pounds lost in 7 months. Even I can't believe it!

Before & After Video

I just posted a new video on my YouTube channel. It's got some before pics and then some "my journey so far" pics. 136 pounds lost so far!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3QJHdDpHxo

I've been asked to either add my recipes here or start a recipe blog. Not sure yet...I mean I do such a good job of keeping up with this one, right? *wink* LOL

Before & 134 Pounds Later

Woot Woot!

Five pounds lost in three days.

Five.

FIVE.

FIVE gloriously wonderful pounds!

Happy Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Yes, I Know....Muscle Weighs More Than Fat

I'm going to preface this entry by saying that I'm feeling uber-bitch-tastic today. I'm a crab. So take that into consideration when you read by rant below.....

Muscle weighs more than fat they say and although I know this, I'm still annoyed. I weigh daily and track my weight using an iPod application called "Lose It!" I feel like I've been stuck around the same few pounds for weeks on end and it's getting to me. Here's a cut & paste from my Lose It spreadsheet. It begins with today's weight and goes back one day for each weight thereafter. The last weight listed is from April 8.

258 257 257 257 258 258 260 259 260 260 261 257 257 257 260 260 260 261 261 261 262 263 263 263 263 263 265 265

So I've lost 7 pounds since April 8th, and today is May 5th. I went through my weight for the last couple months and I've lost about 10-12 pounds per month. That seems low to me.

One drastic change in my life that's happened recently is that I quit my job as a preschool teacher to stay home with my own two kids and do home daycare for other families. I thought it would be hard but so far I'm loving it!! When working outside the home I didn't get back at night until about 6:30 and then sometimes it was hard to go to the gym because I hadn't seen my own kids all day. But now, by 5:00 or 5:30 I'm free...and I have no guilt about leaving my kids home with daddy or at the gym daycare while I work out. So I've been putting in a lot more time working out and going much more frequently. I'm also doing more toning and I can feel my muscles under my skin. It's possible that my loss rate has slowed because of the increased level of exercise. I'm holding onto that.

Just Seven Short Months Ago.....

Just seven months ago I took this picture with my phone. The hubby and I were celebrating our anniversary.

Today my parents watched the kiddos and we went out on a date. :) I took this picture with my phone this afternoon. What a difference 118 pounds makes......

I'm Alive....and Still Getting Skinnier!

Long time no post.

I watched a YouTube WLS Vlog once where the vlogger commented that as she loses more weight, she vlogs less because she's out living her life. I'm finding that the same thing is true for myself. Instead of being a hermit I'm busy, busy, busy. Even when I'm home I'm usually cleaning my ass off. Yes, you read that right. I've become a housekeeping nazi. And I LOVE IT. I work all day and then I come in the door and clean, clean, clean. I cook (what??) clean and clean some more. I'm pretty sure my house hasn't been this clean since right before we moved in.

So anyway - my blogging, as well as my vlogging, have become more infrequent. But it's a good thing because I've traded my lazy hermit lifestyle for a busy & exciting one.

Weight Update:

Today I weighed in at 265. WOOT!! My starting weight was 379, so I am down 114 pounds. For awhile my loss really slowed but I kicked it up at the gym and cut back on some of my calories and now it's heading down at a steady pace again. My BMI has gone from 59 to 39 and I have less weight left to lose than the amount I've already lost. That feels fabulous. :) I am not exactly sure what my surgeon will suggest for a goal weight but I know that at 168 my BMI will be 24.8 - and that's the most I can weigh to have a BMI that is considered 'normal.' Who knows if that is even attainable for me without plastic surgery but we'll see. I would be ecstatic just to be 199!

Non-Scale Victory

I LOVE Sarah McLachlan. In 2007 my husband bought me tickets to her "Afterglow" concert for Valentine's Day. The concert was in the fall and it was amazing. I bought a tour shirt that I knew I couldn't wear because it was 4 sizes too small. But alas, it was the largest size they sold. Yesterday, I wore it for the first time. :) :)

New pics to come soon!

xoxo

Therese

Nutrition Info for Latte Shake

Hola friends! After my last post someone asked me to blog about the nutritional info in the protein shake I drink every morning. You can find the ingredients in the blog immediately before this one. Here are the nutritional stats, as per my handy dandy Lose It program on my ipod:

Calories: 264

Fat: 6.9g

Carbs: 26g

Fiber: 0

Sugars: 24.8g

Protein: 26.2g (woo hoo!)

Reminder: I make mine with skim milk and I use 10 ounces instead of 8. I also use only 3/4 of a serving of the protein powder because, for me, the calories and protein content are too high otherwise. I generally make it with Vanilla powder but I do like it with Chocolate as well. If I have it in the evening I use decaf instead of regular coffee and it tastes just as good.

I made a video on my YouTube channel about the recipe and you can view it here. (Fast forward to about 2 minutes in to avoid some of the useless chatter at the beginning. haha)

Vanilla Latte Video

As for me, I'm still holding at 290 pounds - no loss for about 4 or 5 days but that's okay. I've been working out a lot more lately and even had a session at the gym with a personal trainer. Muscle weighs more than fat so I'm okay with losing inches and staying the same on the scale for a while.

'Til Next Time,

xoxoxoxo

Therese

3 Months Post-Op

Last week I had my 3 month post-op appointment with my surgeon's office. Everything was fine and I was cleared for the next food phase, which now includes steak and citrus. As soon as I left the doctor I was at the grocery store in line for a mandarin orange. I'd been craving one since Christmas and it was delicious to finally sink my teeth into one!

My surgeon requires mini support group meetings with each milestone check-up, so at this appointment I also had an hour long meeting with two other patients who were also three months post-op. Both made comments about eating 6 or 8 tiny meals throughout the day and only being able to tolerate, at most, 1/2 a cup of food. My paranoia rose immediately. Here I am eating between 3/4 to 1 cup at each meal - OH NO, I thought, WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? Holy cow I must be stretching my pouch!!! I spoke up and asked the nurse leading the class and she said that I was fine. I was told to eat three meals a day with no snacks and that's what I've been doing. I generally have a protein shake for breakfast, then I eat solid food for lunch and dinner. I consume around 800 - 1100 calories a day and I track my food, water, vitamins, weight and exercise in my ipod every single day. On the weekends my calorie count falls because I sleep in and I just can't get in enough food during my waking hours. (haha! Who'd have thought??) I do make sure I get my protein minimum of at least 60grams and no more than 80grams. Generally I fall between 59-68 grams of protein per day. Anyway, she assured me I wasn't eating too much - that I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. Whew!

Today's Menu:

Meal 1:

Protein "Latte" Shake

3/4 scoop of GNC Vanilla Whey Powder

2 tsps Nescafe Instant Gourmet Dark Roast Coffee

2 TBSP sugar free french vanilla creamer

10 0z of skim milk

(I have this every morning and I looove it!)

Meal 2:

2 oz of turkey sausage

1/2 cup of sauerkraut (sp?)

mandarin orange

2 Hershey Kisses

Meal 3:

Morningstar 'Veggie' Buffalo Wings (4)

2 TBSP light Ranch dressing for dip

3/4 oz of pepperjack cheese

Exercise:

16 minutes on the treadmill

12 minutes on the stationary bike

Water: 69 ounces

Vitamins: all 3 doses of calcium, 3 doses of iron, thiamine, b-12, multi-vitamin x2

Weight: 290

As the saying goes....

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

And this little gem. YIKES!!

Thank you God for WLS!!

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

It's been awhile since I've posted a blog so I thought I'd come on tonight and share a few updates. First of all, I finally broke through my last stall. Yay! Last time I posted I was stuck somewhere around 318 pounds. I'm happy to report that I'm down to 298 today!! It feels amazing to be below that 300 pound mark. It's been a very long time since I've seen 299 or less and I couldn't be happier with my total loss, which stands at minus 81 pounds.

Secondly, today a super groovy cool thing happened! Lately all of my clothes are just hanging on me and it's driving me mad. So this afternoon I decided to dig deep into the cavern of my closet and see if I could find any of my old clothes that are smaller sizes. I found a pair of Levi jeans that I didn't even know I'd ever owned - they were a size 24. Six weeks before my surgery I was at my highest weight ever, 379 pounds and a size 32. The clothes I've been wearing lately are all size 28s. So when I discovered these size 24 Levis I laughed to myself and figured there was no way in hell they were going to fit me. But I tried them on anyway -- and they buttoned. And they zipped. And they were comfortable.

*blink*

*blink*

*blink*

*insert happy dance here*

I'm over the moon and I think I'm going to wear them for the next three days straight.

Feed Me, I'm Yours.

Now that I'm two months out I'm in a pleasant food phase. I have fewer restrictions so my menus are much more varied. It's been awhile since I've done a daily food list so I thought I'd do one today.

Breakfast

Apple Cheddar Quesadilla

(1/8 of a diced granny smith apple, 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar, 1 low carb high protein whole wheat tortilla....toss it in the frying pan for a minute on each side.)

Snack

1/2 of a Mocha protein shake

(1 tsp instant coffee, 8 oz milk, half a scoop of Unjury Chocolate or Vanilla protein powder, 1 TBSP of sugar free powdered french vanilla creamer)

Lunch

1 oz of colby jack cheese

8 baby carrots

2 TBSPs of lite Ranch dressing

Dinner

Bleu Cheese Turkey Pita

(1TBSP of reduced fat bleu cheese crumbles and 1 TBSP of plain Greek Yogurt blended until smooth like a spread, 6 slices of deli shaved turkey, 1 TBSP of shredded cheddar, baby lettuce leaves. All between two whole wheat, low carb high protein sandwich thins.)

Today's Nutrient Totals:

Calories 956

Protein 65 grams (daily minimum is 60, max is 80)

Fiber 14.3 grams

Carbs 61.4 grams

(Nutritional info courtesy of the greatest ipod application EVER: Lose It! Visit www.loseit.com to see it for yourself....and then GET IT while it's still FREE! That's right, I said FREE!

Ta-da. So there you have it. Welcome to my world. I think it's a pretty tasty place to live.

xoxo

Therese

Stalled

Stalled.

Stuck.

The scale just ain't movin.

Over Christmas break the scale and I were madly in love. Every morning I'd get up, go pee and then joyfully climb onto my digital pal & await the sweet nothings he whispered in my ear. He gave me a minus one at least every morning...and on one beautiful sunshiny day he gave me a minus three. My heart fluttered. He loved me!! He really loved me!!

But I think he's found another. Every day for the past 7 days he's said "315." Followed the next day by "314." And immediately trailed by "315." 314. 315. 314. 315. Rinse and repeat.

I keep trudging along though. Unlike my last stall, this time I know it's just part of the game. It's part of the WLS highway and so I'm okay with it. This time I know for sure it's just temporary and that my body will once again get the memo and come out of it's hold pattern.

One thing I need to do is take my measurements. I've heard over and over that during these stalls we're usually continuing to lose inches. And since I've been working out (go me!) I'm sure the inches are coming off.....I just need to get out my handy dandy tape measurer and let him crush on me for awhile.

Maybe then the scale will get jealous and start to love me again. *giggle*

xoxo,

Therese

The Journey Thus Far