Week 23 Update

(I'm not going to repeat everything from my video, so if you can't watch it now, please do go back and watch it when you can.)

This is my first crack at doing WEEKLY videos instead of just monthly. I had PLENTY to say this week. I really enjoy making the videos so I will be trying to do so every week and see if I can keep up with that :)

This Week's Weigh-in...

219.4 ... a loss of 1.6lbs from last week's weigh in. Things stayed the same the first 4 days of the week, then I stayed off the scale til today... so it must have happened in the past couple days. I am only weighing in once a week from now on. I'm glad things are moving again, but I am definitely going to stop focusing so much on the scale.

Workouts This Week...
Fri 10/22 4 Mile Super Challenge DVD (Leslie Sansone)
Sat 10/23 1.0 mile walk in 20 mins
Sun 10/24 1.8 mile walk in 40 mins
Tues 10/26 1.6 mile walk in 30 mins
Wed 10/27 40 mins ARC trainer- level 4 hill intervals, stretching

My personal training on Monday got canceled so I walked Tuesday instead. :) I have workouts planned already for tomorrow and Sunday. Really ENJOYING my workouts this week! Here's a photo from our Sunday walk...

Some Things I Ate This Week...

I have been taking a lot less food pics lately since I eat a lot of the same stuff over and over, but I do need to get better about taking pics again. We had dinner at my aunt's house on Sunday and I didn't take pics of anything!!

Here's the ones I do have from this week...

Two round whole wheat crackers (Archer Farms), each with an ounce of chicken salad (Market Pantry). About 1/4 cup of grapes and 1/4 cup of cheese and salami diced up. I did finish it but it turned out to make me a little too full.

1/4 cup Campbell's creamy tomato soup and 1 small fajita sized whole wheat tortilla with about 2oz of tuna and 2 slices american cheese. I was only able to eat 1/2 of the tortilla shown here so I ended up saving the other half and having it later with another 1/4 cup of soup. Very comforting on a cold day. Since the soup container has 2 cups, it's going to take me a while to get through it! Ha.

That's all the news for this week. I had to cut time from my video where I was talking about some great blogs I've come across this week and how timely they were... they really spoke to me and helped me change my mindset also. I'll do a separate post soon sharing some of these blogs and the insight I've gained from them!

5 Month Update: Part 2

Back as promised (although a little late) to share my video update and progress pics for 5 months. :)

Full Progression:

This month compared to last month:

This month compared to the start:

Thanks for checking in on me :)

New Clothes, New Size

Hey everybody! First a quick update since my last post ~ no, my weight did not bounce back up and I am at 220.5 right now...yes, my period has actually stopped (thank God! finally!)...and yes I am feeling all better now :) Almost done with my antibiotic. Just a little scratchiness in my throat but nothing too bad.

Today is going to be my first personal training session!! It's not at Lifetime, it's at the independent place that works with bariatric patients. I'm aiming to do personal trianing Mondays and the group class Thursdays (both are strength training) in addition to my 3 cardio days per week. I'll let you know how it goes :)

OK so on to what this post is really about... new clothes!!

Everything I had left that fits is all t-shirts and tank tops. It is definitlely fall now, although we are still having a lot of days in the 70's, there are some in the 50's and 60's.... and this is Colorado so, it could snow tomorrow without warning lol. The only predictable thing about Colorado weather is the fact that it's unpredictable ;) or so they say.

So! I put together Fashion Show Video #2 :) Hope you enjoy!

The summary, if you don't have time or can't watch the video:

Stocked up on great layering pieces that will work for fall and winter. Long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters, and a puffer vest. I got 10 pieces at JC Penney for $141.00... feel like I got a good value... and a lot of great stuff for the season- until it gets too big anyway :-D But since things are moving a little slower now, hopefully the clothes will last a little longer. Anyway, the big news of the video is that I went to plus sizes, tried on a bunch of 1X's and most of them were huge on me. A few things ran smaller and fit well, so I got those. Then I went downstairs to REGULAR sizes and tried on a bunch of XL's - which ALL fit. Well, all except one thing that was a little too tight. This felt great - first time ever fitting into regular XL's in my adult life. I also talk a little bit about body dismorphia and how I still look at the clothes and think they are way too small.
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I ended up getting even MORE clothes after the happenings of this video - and I didn't have to spend any money!! Why? Because I am now the same size as my sister in law Melissa... and she went through her closet and got rid of a bunch of stuff she didn't need anymore. I went over there last night to try things on and I came home with like 6-7 tops, a couple sweatshirts and a pair of jeans! Whoo!! Score!

I had suspicions I was getting to be an XL because I tried on some clearance tops at Eddie Bauer last week in XXL that were too big. They didn't have them in XL so I didn't know for sure. My SIL keeps asking me if I can shop at Old Navy yet (plus is online only, so stores are only regular sizes)... and I said yes I think I'd fit in the XXL's. Well when I was at her house last night, I tried on some things in her closet also just to see - I tried several Old Navy XL's (not XXL!!) and they all fit too. I'm sure I'm still a ways away from fitting in a juniors XL for some of the cuter,trendier stuff I see in the stores...but hey, I am well on my way now to shopping in regular stores. :) YAY!

This pic is of my favorite top that I got (if you watched the video you already saw this pic)... I am posting this pic because it really makes me see/realize that I've lost 90 lbs. :) Love it.

4 Month Progress Update

Hi everyone! I'm back!! No reason to worry :) I was on vacation and just been crazy busy since I got back. I will have lots of posts coming up once I get photos from my vacation posted... took photos of a lot of the foods I ate, have lots to say about traveling post op, and also about how seeing myself in lots of new pictures was a crazy experience!

For now though, let's focus on the 4 month update!! I was 4 months post-op on September 20th. Yes, yes... I made a video!! :)

Watch it when you have time :)

My weight at 4 Months Post Op:

Whoo hoo! So happy - that makes a nice round 80 pounds lost at 4 months.

This month I lost 15 pounds, same as last month.

This month I lost 7 1/2". Total of 56 1/2" in 4 months.

What a great month! And best of all, the very next day, I saw this:

Yeah!! I'm in the 220's! A whole new decade. Very excited. Still 229 today, so it is for real :)

Now for the progress pictures! I do have the whole row here with each month side by side. It's getting a bit long so this month, in addition, I also have this month compared to last month, and this month compared to the start.

These are side by side of just last month next to this month:

The things I notice the most since last month - lost more from my face, neck and chin... and lost some of my "side fat" lol, if that's what you call it.

Now for the ones that really made me go.... WOW. The side-by-side comparisons between this month, and the very start.

I was working at Starbucks yesterday putting these comparisons together, and trying not to cry right there lol. I hadn't really seen the current right next to the start before, and it just really hit me. I can't believe how big a difference 80 pounds has made... I honestly can not imagine what the next 70 pounds is going to bring.

I'm feeling wonderful. I could not be happier that I had this surgery. I feel like I am just living my life, happily.

Also, I am late in posting these because of my vacation, but I have my husband's 3 month progress pictures from September 3rd!

This is his 3rd month compared to his 2nd month:

And this is his 3rd month compared to the start:

Ok this has been long enough! Hope you enjoyed the update and I'll be back soon with more posts!

Fashion Show

Made a little video of the new clothing and accessories I got :) Yes I am modeling them lol.

3 Month Video Update

Finally got my 3 month video update posted to YouTube! Although my video was 14 minutes 50 seconds and it says it can be 15 mins, for some reason when it uploads it changes it to 20 minutes and rejects it. Weird. So I had to split it into two parts again.

Hope you enjoy :) I talk about my dr's visit (3 month checkup), how it's going for myself and my hubby, lots of random stuff.

NSV today

Had some NSV's at the chiropractor's office today. I went in for a decompression treatment. I lay on this table... and first of all it is so much easier to get up on it now. Also, before surgery, I couldn't see the fish:

Now I can easily see them when I am laying there! Matt and I were talking about it (that's him in the background) and he had some nice things to say. Check out my video!

I'm on YouTube

While I love the higher quality video available on Vimeo, I recognize that way more people use YouTube and if I wanted to be a part of the community of surgery "vloggers", I had to get my videos up on YouTube!

I created a whole new account there and will only be using it for surgery-related video. The bonus to this is I don't have to password-protect them like I do on my Vimeo account. When I post here on the blog in the future, I'll include both videos so you can choose which to watch!

So here you go...


Check me out on YouTube!

PS ~ I really wish you could choose the video still they show for the video. Why am I always making a stupid face in them?