Unofficial 7 Month Update and Some Photos

Time for a much needed update! Yes, I have passed my 7 month mark now. I didn't take photos or measurements, or make a video, because not much has changed, so I think I'm going to wait until my 8th month to do so. Although when I *finally* hit 100 lbs lost I'll probably take some photos. I am currently still bouncing between 211.5 and 213. My body seems to really like hanging out at this weight... and I am actually okay with it. I am totally enjoying my life and my body and how I feel health-wise. So let's just call this my unofficial 7  month update :)
 So on my 7 month (Dec 20th) this was my weight:

Yes I still would like to lose more, but I'm not in a hurry :) Things are good and I'm letting my body do what it needs to do. I'm trying to up my exercise again, but every time I do it causes a lot more hip and back pain, so I'm trying to keep a balance and respect what my body needs. Damn pain :(

 Anyway, while I am perfectly fine with things going slow right now, friends and family are constantly asking me if I have hit the 100 mark yet. That gets a little frustrating - I know they all mean well but it just seems like they are so disappointed when I tell them nothing has changed. So I'd love to hit that mark just so I can shut everyone up and say yup I'm there lol. Other than that I'm good.

We've been having an EXTREMELY busy holiday season - I am up to my ears in photos I want to share and blog posts I want to write. I hope I can start catching up soon. I'm so busy with my knittng and crochet classes right now too! Just know that I'm here and I do have lots to share :)

While things have been slow the past couple months... there's nothing like seeing how far you've come to make you realize things are really freaking good.

The other day I was going through my husband's phone and emailing myself photos of his that I wanted. I came cross some old photos I don't ever remember seeing... why he even took these I don't know lol but man, were they crazy to see....

Then I also found this photo from my honeymoon:

Then I started getting a chance to look at photos that have been taken THIS holiday season (haven't even put any of these on Flickr yet)... and I am just so happy with what I am seeing these days!

That last one, while not a particularly flattering photo, is a special photo for me. It's one that made me go... wow... that's me? I know I'm still a big girl but man, I feel like I am starting to look pretty normal. My stomach looks fairly flat (at least it's not sticking out) and I am just happy with what I see. Can't remember the last time I saw a side-view photo and I liked what I saw. This feels great :)

Well I'm off to try and finish up a knitting assignment before class tonight. I hope to be back with more to share soon!

I'm Alive :)

Hey all! So I got a few comments and emails from people wondering where I was. Thank you so much for being concerned. Nothing at all is wrong... I have just been really busy!! Between workouts, household chores, family stuff, Christmas preparations, my FIL's cancer treatments... I'm keeping busy. Then last week I started a crochet class and this week I started a knitting class. I'm in them simultaneously now and have class 4 nights a week and many projects to put time in on every day as homework for class. Eek!!! Busy busy busy.

I have sooo many blog posts I want to write and hopefully I can start catching up. As for weight, I have been bouncing between 211 and 213 for two weeks. I didn't get to weigh in today (forgot before eating breakfast) so I will do so tomorrow and see where things are at. Want to hit that damn -100 mark by my 7 months which is coming up in just 4 days... but I don't know if it will happen.... again.... grrr. Things sure are slow but I still feel I am doing everything I need to be doing so I will just hang in there and be patient!!!

Hopefully I'll be back soon with more blog posts and photos to share!

First Sleeved Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was... interesting. I don't like to sound negative, but family drama is never a good thing, and we certainly had some of that this year. BUT, I will say, the cooking & eating part of the holiday went very well :) My dad made the turkey & stuffing and my aunt brought a delicious Costco pumpkin pie. Other than that, the rest was up to hubby and me!! He was my kitchen assistant and chopped all the things I hate chopping lol and he helped me stay calm. Cooking really overwhelms me, especially making several dishes at once!!

I opted to pick up mac and cheese from Panera so I had one less thing to worry about, so I just warmed that up in a small crock pot for about an hour before dinner.

The first thing I made was garlic mashed potatoes. I made them in the crock pot so I had to start them about 5 hours before dinner.

I'm having trouble locating the recipe I used but basically it is red potatoes (3 lbs), a whole white onion, diced... minced garlic. After that cooked through, I mashed them up and then added onion and chive cream cheese, milk, butter, and some additional spices. Forgot to take a pic of them finished but you will see a little bit of them on my plate later :)

The second dish I made was Shelly's Crazy Corn Casserole. For me this was a lot of work compared to stuff I usually cook, but not too bad and DEFINITELY worth it because it tasted absolutely AMAZING!

It then got cheese on top and baked in the oven til melty and bubbly. It was a crowd pleaser. I am already thinking about making this a meal casserole by adding beef and possibly beans also. Will have to try that sometime soon! This thing has just so much flavor.

The third dish I made was something I have done for about the past 6 years - green beans with almonds. I buy frozen whole green beans and cook them in the microwave first. I sautee sliced almonds in a little butter and with a lot of minced garlic. Then I add the green beans to the skillet and add a little garlic powder, salt and pepper. This is always tasty. I didn't take a specific photo of this either but they are on my plate.

Here's my Thanksgiving plate. FYI, it is a salad sized plate not a dinner plate!

On the left you see my green beans with almonds! Going clockwise there is panera mac and cheese, then my garlic mashed potatoes, then turkey, stuffing, and finally corn casserole. Everything was awesome!

Here is what I wasn't able to eat:

About an hour and a half later I had a 1/2 slice of pumpkin pie. YUM!!!

We had lots of leftovers. I only ate them a few times though. One time I used turkey to make a melt, and had veggies with it:

Another day I had some leftover meat loaf with some of the potatoes and mac and cheese. And I also had another 1/2 slice of pumpkin pie the day after Thanksgiving.

It's nice to enjoy this holiday, still eat all of the food, but not stuff myself. I never felt uncomfortable and never went into a turkey coma LOL. Enjoyed the leftovers too... but never any pigging out. And I lost 4 pounds this week, how wonderful is that?!

Thanks for stopping by my Thanksgiving table :)

28 Weeks Post Op Update

So this week included Thanksgiving... not to mention a lack of workouts due to pain and tiredness. But lo and behold, my body decided this was a week for letting go. I lost FOUR POUNDS this week!!!! My current weight is:

This puts my total lost at 98.6 lbs! Finally getting close to 100 lbs lost :) Yay!

I have to say I am feeling quite "zen" lately. Even on a week like this week where I wasn't able to work out much, I didn't stress about it. I knew I was listening to my body and what it needed - not avoiding working out for no reason. The weight on the scale doesn't hurt either in telling myself I was right to listen to my body. Awesome!

The biggest thing to talk about from the past week is Thanksgiving of course, so I will be sharing a bit about our holiday meal in the next post, hopefully tonight. Just wanted to share my news for today.