New Family Pics (and WW update)

So, Weight Watchers didn't last.  And it's TOTALLY on me.  Now, I DID break my foot about 5 weeks ago.  So exercising has been out of the question.  I'm struggling just to get through the day with this heavy boot.  But I'm holding steady right now at about 222 pounds.  I'd really like to drop that last 20-30 pounds.  But man, I'm just really not motivated!!  I'm hoping that when I get the boot off (and I have no idea when that will be....) I'll get back to the gym.  A woman can dream, right?

Meanwhile, here's some new family pics we took.  We're trying to do this every year now and there's nothing better than Aggie pictures!!  Whoop!

3rd WWW (Weight Watchers Weigh-in)

216, so down .4 pounds.

Which may not sound great, but I really feel like I struggled this week and I honestly don't know why.  I refuse to admit it's because of my lack of motivation to exercise.  SURELY that's not it.  Right?

Ok, maybe I really need to start exercising.  Last night was the first time I got over 10,000 steps in a long time.  So maybe that needs to be my new goal.

We'll see how that goes.

2nd Weight Watchers Weigh-in

I've been dreading this week's weigh-in.  Since I weigh myself at home ALL the time, I knew that I hadn't done as well as last week.  And honestly, I don't know why.  Unless it's the exercising.  Or lack thereof.  Because I was super unmotivated this past week.  Just couldn't get myself moving after I got home from work.  So I know I need to work on that.  And still, I did lose this week:

216.4

Down 1.2 pounds

Moving forward.

That's progress.

Exercise :-(

I hate to exercise.  I mean, really.....HATE!  I recently purchased a Fitbit Zip, in the hopes that it would motivate me.

And I do like to check it alot and see how I'm doing.  And the first few days, I was super stoked to hit my goal of 10,000 steps for the day.  But then, I was like "meh, thanks for the info, 'lil bit, but I'm done for the day".  So while, yes, it's great to track yourself against yourself AND your friends, it's not getting me out of bed earlier in the morning, youknowwhati'msaying?  

However, I have been to the gym more in the past few weeks.  And by "more", I mean not never, so there's that.  We're really trying to get our boys more active, plus Hunter has been asking to work out in order to get ready for high school sports, so that helps get us out the door.  Plus, one of the 5 gym locations has a pool, so jumping in after a good workout is extra motivation.  Particularly in this ridiculous Texas summer heat.  So we are making forward progress.  And forward is always better than backward, amiright??

1st Weight Watchers Weigh-in

5.8 pounds!!!!  That's right......I'm already down to 217.6 in just under one week.  Wow.  What a motivator.  I'm excited about my cheat day, but believe it or not, I'm ready to get back on track tomorrow to have another successful week.

Here's a few sample days of eating from this past week.  Plus any activities, if I did them.  Honestly, this week has been super crazy at work and when I get home at the end of the day, I'm just done.  Over it.  So I pretty much lay in bed, watching The Closer on DVD and eating watermelon.  That's my idea of a good time, right there!

So here's some screenshots from my food tracker.  WW is so easy for me!  I do the Monthly Pass, which means you get all the online tools, the free app on your phone and unlimited meetings.  Being able to track everything on my food is a life saver.  AND I just realized that when you weigh-in at the meeting, it automatically updates your online weight!  Mind=Blown.

One year later.

Last week, July 11th, was the one year anniversary of my gastric sleeve surgery. Just like the old cliché goes, it has literally flown by!  In so many ways it feels like just yesterday that I weighed almost 300 pounds but in some ways it feels like a lifetime. 

Recently I came to the realization that I've forgotten how to eat healthy. Since I've been able to eat whatever I want for the past year (just in much smaller quantities), I haven't made a lot of good choices. And guess what happened a few weeks ago?  Vacation!  And we all know I suck at vacation. It was a week full of good (meaning "bad") food. Without a care in the world. Which is how I wound up weighing 223 pounds on my surger-versary.

Which is not bad. I know this. But when I consider the fact that I was 214 around January and the fact that my original goal was 190, my weight was creeping the wrong direction. And I know how that story goes. And I simply cannot repeat it. Not after all this hard work. Not to mention the money.

So last Saturday,  I joined Weight Watchers. WW has always worked for me when I work the program.  I think it's partly because I'm such a rule follower. So by golly, if I have 34 points each day then I'm eating 34 points!  It's helped me keep myself on track when I walk by the chocolate candy bowl 20 times a day. If I grab one I have to count it. And let's face it ...that's just too much work!

My first weigh-in was 223.4 pounds. According to my scale I've lost about 3 pounds so we'll see what the scale says tomorrow morning. I'm switching to the Friday 7:15 am meeting for two reasons: I'm already dressed and headed to work anyway, plus that means I can make Friday my "cheat day"  I'm a firm believer in cheat days. They keep you sane!

I'll update my WW progress here with some sample food diaries.  I'm already headed the right direction plus getting more active so I know this will work. It has to, right?

I truly believe my gastric sleeve surgery saved my life!  I only wish I'd done it sooner.

Me and my sweet Hunter at his middle school graduation

Our summer trip to Schlitterbahn water park

A Day in the Life - at work

6:20 am - Out of bed - after hitting the snooze twice.  I hit the floor running.

7:10 am - Out the door with both kids.  I drink a Muscle Milk on the way to work.

7:50 am - Morning coffee at work, flavored with Splenda and Heavy Cream.

8:30 am - First giant glass of unsweet tea with Splenda.  Did I tell you we got a tea machine in our office??  It's the most amazing thing, EVER!

10:00 am - I start feeling 'hungry', so I snack on 3 of my turkey jerky sticks.  

12:00 pm - Time for lunch!  Today is a new Healthy Choice option for me.....Crustless Chicken Pot Pie.  It was just 'ok'.  The dumplings were a little tough, but it was alright.  Definitely not one of my favorites.

1:30 pm - The latest I can hold out for my protein bar.  I did manage to avoid the peanut butter cups staring at me from the front desk.

3:30 pm - Second round of turkey jerky sticks, plus one string cheese.  This should hold me until dinner time.

5:30 pm - I'm headed home, but the boys talk me into going out to eat.  We wind up at our favorite local Mexican food place and I have their tortilla soup (best in town!!), which was what I had planned on having at home, so it worked out.

All in all, a good day.  Although I was ready for bed by 7:00, I did manage to keep my eyes open until 9:30.  Thank goodness it's almost Hump Day!

A Day in the Life - at home

7:00 am - The latest the dogs will let me sleep, before insisting on being let out.

 
7:05 am - Morning coffee, flavored with Splenda and Heavy cream.

8:00 am - Breakfast, which is usually 2-3 eggs with some sort of protein, either ham or turkey jerky sticks.

8:30 am - I'm on the overstuffed chair in my living room, watching tv.  Currently binge-watching The Good Wife (LOVE IT!).

9:00 am - I start on my large glass of tea, sweetened with Splenda.  I let the dogs out and throw in a load of laundry while I'm up.

10:00 am - Start thinking about a snack.  Realize it's way too early for that, so I talk myself out of it.

11:00 am - The earliest I can justify lunch.  I try to focus on protein, either tuna fish flavored with lemon juice or leftovers (in this case, crockpot ribs).

12:00 pm - Still want something to nibble on, so I grab a couple of mandarin oranges.  Easy to peel and easy to eat.

1:00 pm - Still want something to nibble on, so I pop a bag of 100 calorie Kettle Corn, my new favorite.

2:30 pm - Ready for some chocolate, so I eat my protein bar.

5:00 pm - Time to head out for my Pi Psi meeting, but in fear that I may starve before dinner, I grab a mini protein bar for the trip.  I also bring a diet Snapple, for hydration, of course.  

6:30 pm - Dinner consists of homemade Taco Soup and Chocolate Pecan Pie.  I enjoy them both thoroughly.

At this point, I've survived the hard part of my day.  For some reason, the time between 12:00 and 5:00 are the hardest.  I could eat around the clock and still be "snackish".  So I always feel relieved when 5:00 rolls around because I feel like I've made it by that point.  I work really hard to not eat after 7:30 or so.....seems like I heard that a long time ago and it sounds like a really good idea.

Weight:  216.4
Exercise:  Didn't get around to it....unless 5 loads of laundry counts!

2 days....Whoop!!!

I did it!  I actually made it 2 days staying on track with my calories AND exercising. I'm so excited. It was a bit of a struggle. Especially when Dan came home with a tub of cookie dough.  Aaargh!!  But I resisted. I bought myself some 100 calorie Kettle Corn to snack on and that's helped. Along with some little mandarins that aren't many calories but they really fill me up.  I really, really wanted some Cinnamon Toast Crunch. But I didn't do it!  Yay!  I consider this a successful weekend. Oh wait - we're off tomorrow. One more day.....I can do this. Right?!?

I made Chicken Tortilla Soup tonight in the crock pot and it was awesome!  Easy, filling meal. Just dump it in and forget it.  Recipe is below. 

Weight:  216.6
Exercise:  Only 20 minutes of the Burn walking workout. Super sore from yesterday's Firm.

CROCKPOT CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

Endorphins?!? Yeah, right.

I've recently come to the (very sad!!) realization that my stomach seems to be able to hold more food than it was before. And how do I know this, you ask?  Because I've been able to eat more food lately.  And it scares me. Because that's what got me into trouble before. So now I have to be really, really, really careful with what I'm eating. I've got to keep track of my calorie intake. And I've got to start (I can barely say the words) exercising.  

I absolutely hate exercising. Hate it. I've never been one of those people that feels wonderful after a workout. I'm too busy counting down the minutes until it's over. It's always been just something I know I should do. And it's not a good look on me. I get all sweaty. My face gets bright red. I'm certainly not a runner. But the time has come to get busy moving. I'm going to start walking at work a few days each week with a friend. And I know she'll walk fast which will push me to walk fast.

But I decided to do something today. This is one workout tape I really like. Leslie Sansone has a bunch of tapes out. I started with her "Walk away the pounds". But this one is slightly different. It's got two different 30 minute workouts:  Burn and Firm. The Burn workout is 30 minutes of walking and the Firm is 30 minutes of strength/weight training.  You're supposed to alternate days. So today I did the Firm and I made it the entire 30 minutes!  Now if I can just keep it up.

Weight today:  219.4
Exercise:  30 minute Firm workout
Waist:  42 inches (down from 50 inches 6 months ago)
Food diary:

Healthy Choice is the BOMB!

If you haven't tried Healthy Choice steamers, you are really missing out.  I've tried a lot of frozen dinners over the years.  And by lots I mean.....well, LOTS!  Some of them are ok, most are not.  Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine were definitely my faves.  Until HC came out with their steamers.  And oh man are they yummy.  I'm not talking Johnny Carino's Baked Tortelloni yummy, but for frozen food, they can't be beat in my book.  I've even turned some of our student workers onto them.  And these are 20 year old young ladies that are choosing this food.  So that really says something.  AND the bestest part?  They typically contain 16-22 grams of protein for approximately 300 calories.  And I usually can't even finish the whole thing.  As my 7 year old would say "what WHAT?!?".

Try some for yourself.  And don't worry....you can thank me later.

Here's my absolute favorites....'cause you know I eat the same thing over and over once I find something I like:

First Steps

Here's the steps I had to go through in order to have my surgery approved by insurance and scheduled with my surgeon.  I realize these may differ for you, but these were the ones issued by my doctor, Dr. John A. Mason (College Station, TX).

1.  Attend informational seminar - these seem to be held on a monthly basis by my doctor's office.  It lasts approximately 1 hour and they present the different options available to you (i.e. gastric bypass, lap band, gastric sleeve).  At that time, I submitted my name and number and was told to wait to be contacted by their office.

2.  Meet with the doctor - my first appointment with Dr. Mason was on June 11, 2013.  At this time, he once again went over the options available and asked which I had decided upon (which was the sleeve).  I was weighed, measured, etc at this appointment.  I then met with the lady that coordinates the entire process, Tish.  She works with your insurance company and the other service providers to make the process as smooth as possible.  And she's awesome.  Love me some Tish!

3.  Meet with Nutritionist - this lasted approximately 45 minutes.  We reviewed good food choices, nutrition values, proper plate proportions, etc.  All the stuff we all know....we just choose to ignore it most of the time.  I took lots and lots of papers home from this appointment, but honestly, I haven't really looked at it since.

4.  Psychological Evaluation - this lasted approximately 2 1/2 hours.  I sat and visited with the psychologist (a lovely lady who had also had WLS) for a bit, then took some sort of personality profile.  Basically, they want to see if you have any mental issues that might hinder your recovery.  And if you have depression or anxiety issues, this surgery will not 'fix' you.  I'm a pretty happy person in general, so this surgery is not 'fixing' anything for me.  I'll be happy - whether I'm fat, skinny or somewhere in between.

5.   Cardiology Consultation - if I had heart issues, I would have had to do this, but thankfully I do not.

6.   Education class - this lasted approximately 4 hours.  There were two ladies that taught the class.....one had WLS several years before and the other was a nurse that assisted with WLS, so their knowledge was incredibly helpful.  We were given a 1" thick binder full of good information and told lots of good stuff including how to prep for surgery, what to eat before/after surgery, what to pack for surgery, etc.

7.  Final Pre-op - final meeting at Dr. Mason's office before surgery.

8.  Surgery Pre-op - meeting with staff at the hospital for final instructions and x-rays.

I was able to accomplish this pretty quickly and my surgery was scheduled for July 11, 2013, exactly one month after my first doctor visit.  Some people have to be on a doctor-supervised, documented weight loss program for 6 - 12 months before their insurance will cover it.  I am very fortunate that my insurance will cover the surgery in two circumstances:  [1] BMI is higher than 42 (which I was, but just barely)  [2] Health issues if BMI is under 42, including diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.  The total estimated cost of the surgery was $12k-14k, but I wound up paying approximately $3,500.

Willpower (aka Girl Scout Cookie Time!)

Ugh. 

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time.  

Just when I was starting to make a little progress in my fight against sugar.  I'd be ok if it was just me in the house.  But it's not.  I live with 3 boys, 2 of whom just LOVE Girl Scout cookies.  And one of them is 44 years old, so he has the ability to go buy said cookies.  In HUGE quantities.  Which does not help me at all.  Because I have a problem with willpower.  Which is the reason I weighed almost 300 pounds!!  Hell-oooooo!

And I'm struggling.  Really struggling.  Every day I start off with resolve to do "good".  I have my entire day of meals planned out.  LOTS of protein.  I drink my Muscle Milk on the way to work.  I have my coffee as soon as I get there.  I get "hungry" around 10:00, so I snack on a few almonds.  I eat lunch no later than 11:30.  Then 1:30/2:00 hits.  And I get the "munchies".  And I can't stop thinking about these:

These things are like crack to me!  And they're conveniently available in a drawer near me.  So I sneak up there and snag a handful while no one is looking.  And yes, I did say 'handful', 'cause you all know I can't eat just one.  Then I gobble them all down and feel misery and regret immediately after.  And then I think....come on, you know what's coming......."Well, heck, I've already ruined my day so I'll just eat WHATEVER.I.WANT for the rest of the day and (say it with me folks) START.OVER.TOMORROW!".  Yeah, I've been doing that pretty much for the last 30 years, so it's very familiar to me.  And I'm very frustrated with myself.  This morning, I weighed 218.  Which is certainly not bad for me.  But that's up 4 pounds from sometime last week.  And I simply cannot allow that trend to start.  So whoever says this surgery is 'easy' and a 'quick fix', they're wrong.  You still have to make good choices and exercise willpower.  And it's still hard.  I have to fight my impulses every day and lately, I've been losing the battle.  I've GOT to get back on track.  

Wish me luck!  And enjoy those cookies.....just not too many at once. 

Jeans and a t-shirt

These are some of the things that I've been looking forward to.....

1.  Being able to shop for "normal size" clothes
2.  Not having to worry about the weight limit on a water ride or roller coaster
3.  Not having constant foot/heel/hip/back etc. pain
4.  Having the seat belt fit without an extender
5.  Tucking in my shirt AND wearing a belt
6.  Having my children be able to put their arms all the way around me for hugs
7.  Not worrying about whether the EMT's can lift me on a stretcher (if necessary, which I hope it never is!)

8.  Being comfortable in just a pair of jeans and a T-shirt

9.  My legs not rubbing together

#8 just happened today.  And it was awesome.

6 months!!

Today is the six month anniversary of my surgery. And it's a great day!  I've lost 76 pounds (today's weight = 214.4) and my size 18 shorts are getting loose so I tried on a pair of 16's that I very optimistically bought back in the Great Weight Loss of 2010.  I've never been able to get even a leg in them!  But guess what?!?  Come on....you can guess.  That's right - they FIT!  Not well or anything. And I certainly would not wear them in public yet. But they zipped up and I count that as progress. Don't you?  And I think you can even see a little collar bone action in this pic. Mind = blown. 

Happy 6 month anniversary to me!  And here's to an amazing 2014.

Before and after - 6 months out

Wow!  You know when you see yourself everyday, you don't really notice the changes?  I've been wanting to get some updated pictures of myself, so here we go.  Apologies for the bathroom selfies. My boys stink at taking pics of me, so I just do it myself.

I still have a little bit to go, but I'm 2/3 of the way there!  And I just feel so good, I want to shout it from the rooftops and tell everyone that can to do this.  It has permanently changed my life for the better. 

Today's weight:  216 (the least I've weighed in over two decades!)



January 2014

July 2013



January 2014

 July 2013

 

 

TODAY is the day!

No really. Today. For sure. 100% positive.

Of course it is still early. I have a lot of day to get through. But I have not done a great job of getting back on track this New Year. I won't bore you with the details but suffice it to say there was lots of ice cream, French fries and Reese's peanut butter cups involved. It was fun while it lasted but the good times are over.  I really want to lose the last 30 pounds. Then I can be a lot less disciplined.

The good news is I know I can eat whatever I want and not gain weight. For the first time ever in my life. And it's so awesome. But I've stopped losing and that's totally bumming me out. So I'm back on my high protein diet today. Good thing I love meat!

Today's weight:  219 (yes I know that's up a few pounds....but nothing significant)
Exercise:  20 minute cardio DVD
Food Diary: