Happy Surgiversary ME!

Whoo hooo One year ago today I started one of if not the most exciting journey of my life. I would never ever go back... only forward and not one regret. Every day is new day, every day is a new challenge and every day there is joy that I am where I am and I look forward to tomorrow.
Am I successful every single day ? nope but the majority of every day yup!
Congratulations ME.
This has been the shortest year I have ever had and the longest and the most fulfilling and the worst full of agony and pathos.
I will NEVER regret this!
On a side note today in the obits was a notice for Marian the first actual person I ever met that had WLS. She lost 100 plus pounds about 20 years ago when the surgery removed a lot of intestine. She passed away more than 80 years old and I am certain she lived that long due to the enormous amount of weight she lost. She was truly a success! An early success and mentored me a bit to think about surgery.
Rest in Peace Marian!

BMI and Me

Okay I am writing this down so I won't forget it. AT my height 5'1" I will have to get to 158 before I am only obese and not Morbidly obese. Yikes that is over 80 pounds away and almost at the initial goal weight I set for myself of 145. Okay I REALLY want to be 125 but I think at 145 I will be soooo happy.
Okay I just checked again and I will have to be 132 to have a normal BMI. Maybe that will be my new goal.

Ok got the Cumin

Rainy, stormy weekend... (I wonder whatever happened to my junior high school friend Rainey Allen?)I tried googling her but no luck. I hope she is happy and successful no matter what.
Anyway I got the Cumin and some fresh garlic now what? A weigh loss successful meal this weekend. Must have chicken I think.
Soup form last weekend was a success. Green pea from the Thanksgiving ham bone and Honeybaked Hams special soup packets. Love them L.O.V.E. T.H.E.M. The leak was good but no spectacular. Think I will stick with straight leek potato and not try and make it creamy next time.
I need to go and check out Eggface and what she has for a stormy weekend. Wondering how I can add a link to this blog or a pciture.... hmmm maybe read the instuctions? Weigh in on Monday .... 50 weeks!!!!!!!!!!

WTF is Cumin?

Am I the only person who doesn't particularly care for Bacon? Now that I am 48 (YES 48 Weeks!) weeks post op I have discovered that I lose weight more consistently when I cook from scratch. Prior to surgery I was about a 75% fast food person . Honestly though I wasn't a hamburger, fries and a shake girl but a grilled chicken sandwich and a lemonade and maybe a starch but probably not. Yeah Yeah Yeah almost 400 pounds and you ate lettuce leaves right ? No really but I ate too much and too often perhaps. ANYWAY I also ate a egg mcMuffin's and that can't be just good food right?
So Post op and past the slimey egg stage I started to reintroduce myself to food. Well not so much. For the 1st 8 weeks and longer I was struggling with still being massively overweight and throwing up at almost every meal. The 1st 8 weeks it was nausea every day. So the POINT (Get to the point) I still ate some fast foods. I ate the grilled chicken salad. like about 4 bites. I ate a El Pollo Loco leg and the soup at El Pollo omgoodness the soup saved me... it was hot and nutritious I felt almost human and I didn't barf.
Gradually however as I begin to be more mobile for longer than 10 minutes at a time, my cooking gene became aroused. I stared experimenting with old favorites and then new stuff and I became interested in looking at cook books and EggFace became my (unbeknownst to her) my mentor. I WISH I had the time and the brains she has to create as she does.
ANYWAY
I now cook if at all possible once at least a week and make enough for several meals. I am way into casseroles with meat and beans and this weekend I have big plans for those 2 chicken breasts that were left from my meals in restaurants and am planning a leek and chicken soup. Oh Yuma Arizona.
ANYWAY I had a point. Yup I did, Yes I did I DID!
Cumin - WTF is Cumin and why is it featured prominently at my favorite Trader Joe's and why didn't I pick it up last night because it appears EVERYWHERE in every silly recipe and Paula Deen I think says it's smokey and yummy or is that garlic and butter? Or is it Ina?
Oh Never mind. Well TJ's didn't have Leeks either so I have to go to a regular grocery and get those so perhaps CUMIN the miracle spice is on my list if it's under $4.00 a jar (note to self: look up Cumin and see what it is in a Mexican spice as those are so much cheaper at the market)
OK I'm done ... for the moment. :) As you were

Happy Weight Loss Over the Holidays?

I reluctantly weighed myself yesterday morning. Who doesn't cheat or go off track just a wee bit over the Holidays? I can't say I was perfect but gee whiz when you compare it to this time LAST year I was incredible. Thank you Gastric Bypass! Had a few issues with throwing up as I over filled or maybe it was sugar but when I stepped on the scale I had lost 11 pounds in the past 3 weeks! I was shocked and got off the scale and then back on it again. I haven't seen THAT number ....in years.
It's now week 47 and what great a 47 week ride it's been. A big learning curve but very rewarding. It's hard every day and I am still learning what to eat and what not to eat. I have started in the past few weeks having intense gas pains like menstrual cramps in the evening. I think it may be the carbs breaking down in my system. I bought a bottle of Beano and have tried to remember to take that with the Gas X before or during each meal that has a gassy food in it. Beano before the meal...Gas X during the meal. It's not yet working correctly but I think I need to be more vigilant. The gas is odoriferous as my Mother used to say. Ugh that is embarrassing.
Friends over the Holidays were very complimentary and considerate which was a big concern. Small plates, smaller amounts of food and good company what could be better? Oh yes 141 pounds gone FOREVA!

Ugh ugh it's JUST a tool, a tool

I have been smacked with my new reality and it's name is hunger. I was told that I would eventually get my hunger back and it would be raging. I thought that I was lucky as it did not appear at the anticipated 6 month mark nor 7 months but I have now lost that battle. I am sadly just like everyone else who has WLS :::sigh::: human. The carb monster came first and I began to crave C.R.A.V.E carbs. I already had an appointment to see the nutritionist at the Dr.'s office so I went anticipating that she would have normal follow up questions for me and she surprised me by asking me why I came to see her. Huh? I uhmmm cause the Dr. told me to come I stated and started to feel a little foolish. However I continued I have been starting the carb cravings and think all hope is now lost (Okay something like that). I don't think she is really clued into the WLS surgery patient I think she is a regular nutritionist but not really in the loop. However she did suggest that I start eating a fruit like dried fruit or an apple mid morning and mid afternoon and those carbs/sugars in the fruit would slow down my carb fever. And they have been slowed down. So I am grateful. Still more hungry than I have been but it has taken the edge off.
I actually gained a few pounds before I got to this point I think 4 pounds which is a huge amount to me who still has more than 100 pounds to go. At 260 pounds I can see 300 pounds on the horizon if I am not careful. Looming in front of me is a Dr. appointment this Thursday so I have been aware of the deadline to get off the few pounds I lost because for sure they will weigh me and I will feel like the millions of WW meetings I have attended and a failure. I weighed myself about a week ago and was down 2 or 3 of the pounds I had gained but need to start on a regular basis the exercise so that I can integrate that into my daily life. Ugh. The surgery is just a tool darn it. Not a magic potion. I was holding out hope that it WAS a magic potion. Now I need to pay much more attention I think and stick with weigh-in's once a week and although I am not craving carbs as much as I was several weeks ago I need to pay attention to that monster and well... pay more attention. Ugh. Ugh drat! I was warned darn it!

Joy

I am now a pound or two more than 1/2 way to my initial goal weight. I woke up the other morning and for the 1st time in a long time felt absolute JOY. Joy in my chest... bursting out of my heart at the difference in my life this surgery has made already. I now have a chance! Life is again full of all opportunities or the possibility of most opportunities again!
The surgery has made possible so many positive things that I had forgotten about.
I am not alone with these absolutely amazing realizations I would bet I have lots of company in the WLS community. But this is my blog and It's mostly about ME, Me me!

Yes, Life still has complications and challenges. But I am having so many non-scale related positives:

To list a few:

1. Saturday I went shopping at 4 different places. or is that 5 ? I had no tiredness no exhaustion and it was so great I almost cried at the last store. I can DO IT AGAIN I can shop like an almost normal person!

2. I can get up if I fall down. One of my biggest fears has been the fear that if I fell I would not be able to get up unassisted. I can get up on my own now.

3. When I was at my heaviest I felt invisible. Not to children, but to adults. I am still very, very overweight (I am not kidding myself) however I am no longer invisible to adults. I even had a guy smile at me twice at the gas station the other day!

4. From the waist up I look good... from the waist down... uhmm not so much. But I can see an image of my former self... well with a chicken neck (Which I really need to GET OVER!)./

5. I have no problem getting into a booth at a restaurant anymore!

and the list goes on and on.

At this moment in time... life is good and getting better each day :)