Well, it's Fall in the mountains, and it's been beautiful. We took a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the leaves, an awesome sight, especially for this former lifelong Floridian. I love the changing seasons! We even had a dusting of snow Tuesday morning - SNOW - before Halloween is even here! I am always cold now, having lost my layer of insulation, and all my coats are too big. I've gotta hit the Goodwill and find some warm stuff to wear!
I'm officially half the girl I used to be, down to 128lbs, from 256lbs. Everyone says I'm too skinny now, but I don't think so! I think I'm pretty skinny, but I feel good, and my labwork all looks good, so there.
I've been very busy lately. I make handmade soap, balms and lipbalms. Since it's fall here in the mountains, it's Craft Show time! I've been selling my goods at the local craft shows and festivals, and it's been keeping me in a hectic state! Soap making through the week, selling on the week ends. But hey - it keeps me out of trouble!
Well, that's all I can think of for now....I posted new pics.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Chillin' through the summer
Well kids, it's August 19th and summer is almost over. Hard to believe! We have had a relatively cool summer this year. We had a couple of hot days several weeks ago, but then a cold front came through and it's been nice ever since. In fact, my house is anywhere from 65 to 69 degrees when I wake up in the morning. The nights here get down in the low 60's or high 50's, so I am usually cold! It's so different than when I weighed over 250lbs. I was always hot then!
We took our first trip to Dollywood last month. It was great fun. I rode all the rides - roller coasters, water rides, you name it - with my 11 year old. What a relief to slip right in the seat, not having to worry if I would fit! The funny part was that several of the rides required an actual weigh in! I would have died of embarrassment before.
As an update, I weighed in at 131.5 this morning. That's an all new low. I've been sitting anywhere from 132 to 134 for the past 3 weeks or so. I do think I'm about finished losing, but we'll just have to wait and see. The first 2 years are all about losing the weight, and then settling in and maintaining the weightloss. I'm excited about this! I have always faced the biggest challenge in maintaining whatever loss I had. I feel that I will succeed this time, as my body is 'plumbed for success' and this is not a diet that I will go off of.
Once again, I will say that I am very happy with my MGB and the resulting weight loss. I don't feel like I am on a diet. I feel like a normal person for the first time ever. My appetite no longer controls me. I eat whatever I want, but what I want is good for me!
As a final note, I'm addicted to the Olympics! It is amazing to see what the human body can accomplish! I'm inspired to focus on my own exercise regime and build up my muscles and my cardiovascular system. For those of you who are like me, 50 and over, losing muscle mass is a natural part of aging. So, we have to fight it by strength training. I'm gonna beef mine up, as I've been a little lax! I bought a new resistance band and hopefully that will help some. My older son swears by his. Of course he can do more with it than I can even dream of at this point - but I'm gonna build those muscles up!
Let's go for the gold!
We took our first trip to Dollywood last month. It was great fun. I rode all the rides - roller coasters, water rides, you name it - with my 11 year old. What a relief to slip right in the seat, not having to worry if I would fit! The funny part was that several of the rides required an actual weigh in! I would have died of embarrassment before.
As an update, I weighed in at 131.5 this morning. That's an all new low. I've been sitting anywhere from 132 to 134 for the past 3 weeks or so. I do think I'm about finished losing, but we'll just have to wait and see. The first 2 years are all about losing the weight, and then settling in and maintaining the weightloss. I'm excited about this! I have always faced the biggest challenge in maintaining whatever loss I had. I feel that I will succeed this time, as my body is 'plumbed for success' and this is not a diet that I will go off of.
Once again, I will say that I am very happy with my MGB and the resulting weight loss. I don't feel like I am on a diet. I feel like a normal person for the first time ever. My appetite no longer controls me. I eat whatever I want, but what I want is good for me!
As a final note, I'm addicted to the Olympics! It is amazing to see what the human body can accomplish! I'm inspired to focus on my own exercise regime and build up my muscles and my cardiovascular system. For those of you who are like me, 50 and over, losing muscle mass is a natural part of aging. So, we have to fight it by strength training. I'm gonna beef mine up, as I've been a little lax! I bought a new resistance band and hopefully that will help some. My older son swears by his. Of course he can do more with it than I can even dream of at this point - but I'm gonna build those muscles up!
Let's go for the gold!
Monday, July 7, 2008
One Year Anniversary
On Saturday, 7/5/08, I celebrated the one year anniversary of my Mini Gastric Bypass. What a whirlwind year it has been! I have lost 121 pounds, going from 256 to 135. I had set a personal goal of 136, and actually didn't think I would reach it by the one year mark, as I was stuck at 137 or 138 for about a month. I wasn't concerned, as I was completely happy at that point, even if I never lost another ounce! But low and behold, on 7/4 the scale showed 135...and has continued to show that (even 134.5 at times) since.
I have kept track of my measurements along the way, and today I added up the inches lost. Drumroll..... 112.25 inches!!! My gosh! I have really lost a whole person that I was carrying around all this time. Just to give you more info on where I was and where I am now, here are some before and after measurements:
Then Now
Waist: 44 in 29 in
Hip 51.5 in 35 in
Bust 45 in 37.75 in
Upr Arm 18.75 in 11 in
Thigh 26.5 in 16.75 in
Calf 19.5 in 14 in
I wore a Women's 22 and now wear a 4 or 6. Even my toes lost weight! My toe ring now slips off if I am not careful - if I wanted to take it off prior to surgery - I had to soap up the toe!
My friend was describing a woman we admire but had never met in person. She saw her at a convention, and told me, "She's much smaller than she looks on TV, she's as tiny as you!" Wow. I know that no one ever said those words to me before.
I am thrilled with the results of my surgery. I am healthy - no more diabetes, high blood pressure or sleep apnea. I am strong, I feel great. I can climb the stairs - or a mountain, and not feel like I'm gonna keel over trying to catch my breath. I can mow the yard, carry the laundry, exercise, you name it. I can sit on my husband's lap. I can get up and down from the floor with ease. I no longer wonder if I'm the fattest woman in the room. I don't worry about my stomach sticking out, or my thighs rubbing together. I can tie my shoes without losing my breath. I can just be the me I always imagined I was. I'm just not carrying around an extra person with me.
Years ago, my husband and I had a little country store. Among the things we sold were those little signs with sayings. One of my favorites said: My body's really a size 6...I just cover it with fat so it won't get scratched! Well, I guess that's what I was doing all these years. One word of caution if you're doing that too - don't wait too long to uncover it, cause it may not get scratched, but it might get a bit wrinkled!
Life is good...eternal life is better!
I have kept track of my measurements along the way, and today I added up the inches lost. Drumroll..... 112.25 inches!!! My gosh! I have really lost a whole person that I was carrying around all this time. Just to give you more info on where I was and where I am now, here are some before and after measurements:
Then Now
Waist: 44 in 29 in
Hip 51.5 in 35 in
Bust 45 in 37.75 in
Upr Arm 18.75 in 11 in
Thigh 26.5 in 16.75 in
Calf 19.5 in 14 in
I wore a Women's 22 and now wear a 4 or 6. Even my toes lost weight! My toe ring now slips off if I am not careful - if I wanted to take it off prior to surgery - I had to soap up the toe!
My friend was describing a woman we admire but had never met in person. She saw her at a convention, and told me, "She's much smaller than she looks on TV, she's as tiny as you!" Wow. I know that no one ever said those words to me before.
I am thrilled with the results of my surgery. I am healthy - no more diabetes, high blood pressure or sleep apnea. I am strong, I feel great. I can climb the stairs - or a mountain, and not feel like I'm gonna keel over trying to catch my breath. I can mow the yard, carry the laundry, exercise, you name it. I can sit on my husband's lap. I can get up and down from the floor with ease. I no longer wonder if I'm the fattest woman in the room. I don't worry about my stomach sticking out, or my thighs rubbing together. I can tie my shoes without losing my breath. I can just be the me I always imagined I was. I'm just not carrying around an extra person with me.
Years ago, my husband and I had a little country store. Among the things we sold were those little signs with sayings. One of my favorites said: My body's really a size 6...I just cover it with fat so it won't get scratched! Well, I guess that's what I was doing all these years. One word of caution if you're doing that too - don't wait too long to uncover it, cause it may not get scratched, but it might get a bit wrinkled!
Life is good...eternal life is better!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Wii Fit!
Hey Y'all!
Well, once again I am behind in my blogging. Not much happening in the weight loss department. I think that I am almost to goal, hovering around 138 (down to 137.5 the other day!). I'm actually relieved, as the weight had come off so fast I wondered if it would actually stop. I'm happy in a size 4 or 6 and feel good over all.
We recently added Wii Fitness to our collection, and I love it! If you need a jump start on your exercise routine, and have a Wii, you will want to get Wii Fitness! It sets up a profile for your Mii, and weighs you, tells you your BMI, measures your center of balance, body control and the like and tells you your Wii Fitness Age. So far I'm at about 42, which is 8 years under my real age, so that's good! My weight and BMI are NORMAL! Yes! In addition to the body test, there are 4 areas you can exercise in. They are Aerobics, Strength Training, Yoga and Balance. All are fun and the time flies. Wii Fitness tracks your time for you, increases exercises for difficulty and adds new exercises as you progress. The best part of it is that my 11 year old overweight couch potato boy LOVES it and has been exercising (almost) daily for at least an hour - sweating it out and loving it. I am so happy!
Life is settling into summer here in NC. We're finished with school and of course Josh is thrilled about that! We had a hot spell here in NC last week, and we actually had to turn the AC on as we had guests from Florida and we didn't want them to be hot?! It's cooled back down to normal now and I'm glad because I hate the AC. I'm growing some lovely herbs on my deck, and still need to plant some veggies.
The last weekend of May we took a short trip to Michigan and the guys went fishing for walleye on Lake Erie. They caught about 27 and we got to bring them home, and are really enjoying fresh fish. My brother in law in Michigan had one of those Food Saver vacuum things, and we used that to seal up the fish and freeze them. It works really well, as every bit that I've thawed and cooked tastes fresh fresh fresh! Last night we cooked chicken, shrimp and some of the walleye in kebobs along with corn on the cob, potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, onions, red and yellow bell peppers. Grilled them and oooh were they good.
Well, that's it for now! Hope you are getting in the summer mood. Get out there and sweat!
Well, once again I am behind in my blogging. Not much happening in the weight loss department. I think that I am almost to goal, hovering around 138 (down to 137.5 the other day!). I'm actually relieved, as the weight had come off so fast I wondered if it would actually stop. I'm happy in a size 4 or 6 and feel good over all.
We recently added Wii Fitness to our collection, and I love it! If you need a jump start on your exercise routine, and have a Wii, you will want to get Wii Fitness! It sets up a profile for your Mii, and weighs you, tells you your BMI, measures your center of balance, body control and the like and tells you your Wii Fitness Age. So far I'm at about 42, which is 8 years under my real age, so that's good! My weight and BMI are NORMAL! Yes! In addition to the body test, there are 4 areas you can exercise in. They are Aerobics, Strength Training, Yoga and Balance. All are fun and the time flies. Wii Fitness tracks your time for you, increases exercises for difficulty and adds new exercises as you progress. The best part of it is that my 11 year old overweight couch potato boy LOVES it and has been exercising (almost) daily for at least an hour - sweating it out and loving it. I am so happy!
Life is settling into summer here in NC. We're finished with school and of course Josh is thrilled about that! We had a hot spell here in NC last week, and we actually had to turn the AC on as we had guests from Florida and we didn't want them to be hot?! It's cooled back down to normal now and I'm glad because I hate the AC. I'm growing some lovely herbs on my deck, and still need to plant some veggies.
The last weekend of May we took a short trip to Michigan and the guys went fishing for walleye on Lake Erie. They caught about 27 and we got to bring them home, and are really enjoying fresh fish. My brother in law in Michigan had one of those Food Saver vacuum things, and we used that to seal up the fish and freeze them. It works really well, as every bit that I've thawed and cooked tastes fresh fresh fresh! Last night we cooked chicken, shrimp and some of the walleye in kebobs along with corn on the cob, potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, onions, red and yellow bell peppers. Grilled them and oooh were they good.
Well, that's it for now! Hope you are getting in the summer mood. Get out there and sweat!
Friday, May 23, 2008
138 - only 2 pounds from my goal!
Time just flies by! I reached 138 last week and forgot to blog about it!!! Just entering the 130's is a miracle. I was speaking with my mom and she said she didn't know when I was ever in the 130's... since I was 175 in the 5th grade, I guess I was probably 7 or 8 the last time I was here!
I made a trip to the Goodwill in Asheville. Yeah! I love thrift store shopping! It is a valuable tool in the weightloss journey - so don't be too proud to go there! I find wonderful jeans and pants and tops for a fraction of what I'd have to pay in a regular store. Even beats the clearance prices! And may I brag and say that I bought several size 4 pants?! It's just too amazing.
Other than that, there is nothing really new going on. I have planted my herbs and they are growing nicely...used some lovely freshly cut cilantro in my chicken soup yesterday! Yum! I've been making lots of soap and lotion bars to sell at our local farmers markets. Gets us up and out of the house early on Saturdays.
We're headed for a trip to Michigan next week. I'm looking forward to seeing my brother and sister in law. They haven't seen me since before surgery, so it should be fun to see their reaction!
Hope you're losing and enjoying life!!!
I made a trip to the Goodwill in Asheville. Yeah! I love thrift store shopping! It is a valuable tool in the weightloss journey - so don't be too proud to go there! I find wonderful jeans and pants and tops for a fraction of what I'd have to pay in a regular store. Even beats the clearance prices! And may I brag and say that I bought several size 4 pants?! It's just too amazing.
Other than that, there is nothing really new going on. I have planted my herbs and they are growing nicely...used some lovely freshly cut cilantro in my chicken soup yesterday! Yum! I've been making lots of soap and lotion bars to sell at our local farmers markets. Gets us up and out of the house early on Saturdays.
We're headed for a trip to Michigan next week. I'm looking forward to seeing my brother and sister in law. They haven't seen me since before surgery, so it should be fun to see their reaction!
Hope you're losing and enjoying life!!!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Dealing with the hair loss
Many folks who are researching weightloss surgery ask questions about hair loss. I know the feeling, as I was worried about it too! I have pretty good hair, and when you're overweight, the thought of losing your one redeeming quality can be quite frightening.
Hair loss does seem to be a pretty common problem with any bypass surgery. Basically, your body thinks you are starving, and it shuts down anything that it feels is not absolutely necessary. Hair being one of those things! What is wrong with our bodies?! Don't they know how important hair is!!! Anyway, the follicles seem to go into a hibernation mode, and you do lose some and it's slow growing back in. Some people lose more than others. It can help to get in your protein, wash your hair with Head and Shoulders and some people take zinc - although it is known to upset your stomach.
I tried the zinc, and it did not sit well with me. I do use the Head and Shoulders Intensive shampoo. My hair started really coming out at about 4 months. I thought I'd go bald for sure! But now at almost 10 months, the loss has slowed tremendously. However, what used to be a pretty good ponytail became a rat tail instead. I could see that my hair looked kind of stringy in the front, and finally looked backwards in a mirror and saw that it was REALLY stringy in the back. (Asked my husband why he didn't tell me how raggedy it looked...mmmm he hadn't really noticed. Men.)
So, today I went and got my hair cut short. I haven't had it short in many years, as my man likes long hair. However, my friend Peggy got hers cut off really short a couple of weeks ago, and it looked so good - well - Louie said I could cut it off as long as I grow it back when it thickens up again.
I'm happy with the cut, might even add some layers after I play with it for a couple of weeks. All in all I would tell anyone who is looking into the Mini Gastric Bypass - don't let the hair issue hold you back. It's a temporary problem! I've not had anyone say, "Wow! Your hair sure looks thin!" But lots of people have said, "Wow! YOU sure look thin!" Go for it, you'll be happy you did!!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
It's time to get the shorts out
Well, thank goodness that shorts season is finally here, and even better, thank goodness that long shorts are in style! They are great for covering these saggy thighs. A small price to pay for all the other benefits of losing 113 lbs! I had all those years of huge cellulite covered legs, and I dont' care if these are saggy - they are so much thinner!
Here are a couple of pics from today.
We had a great time with our friends Mike and Peggy and their grandson Austin, visiting a town near us called Sylva, NC. They had their annual Greening Up the Mountains day, with lots of vendors and such. It was a great day to put on my shorts for the first time as a normal weight person, and I enjoyed it!!
I met with some friends this week that I've known since high school - Hi Cliff and Ray!!! I've never been this thin (since about 8 years old!) so it was probably different for them to see me like this!
Well, nothing new for now - just thought I'd check in and post some new pics!
Have a blessed day!
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