A Quick Catch Up

I have been SO busy lately. Very soon I'll be posting about the last two weekends and all the fun things we have done. But this post is going to be just a quick round up of a bunch of things going on lately.

Firstly, all is well for me as life post weight-loss surgery. I have been really active lately, I'm able to eat a huge variety of foods now, I'm happy and satisfied with my small portions and I'm feeling great. I lost 37 pounds in my first month and saw a big difference already:

This coming Wednesday will be my 6 week checkup! Can't believe it. Everything is going really great for my husband too and Wednesday will be his 4 week checkup and we'll find out for sure how much he has lost.

In other news... a few days ago I found out my best friend wants to move back to Colorado again, and live with us for about a year! I am so excited! We will be like 2 peas in a pod again (I hope) :)

She has a lot of reasons for coming out here for a while, and I respect all of them. Plus I'm just happy we will get to spend more time together for a while. I feel like we will both be going through some changes, and sort of growing up some more, and it will be awesome to be together and support each other through a lot of it.

Let's see... what else. Last weekend we went to Steamboat Springs for the Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup. I'll be doing SEVERAL posts about that very soon. This weekend we went to Estes Park and had a great time... again, coming soon. LOL. We saw Toy Story 3 today and loved it.

This past Monday we had a little BBQ at my parents' house for Father's Day. My dad grilled up some Bratwurst which was really yummy. Here he is playing grillmaster:

I was able to eat 1/2 a bratwurst, no bun. It was delicious.

I got this new tank top I really like:

Ian recently got a brand new iPhone 4... look how happy he is!

I have been trying to spend a little more time with my aunt and grandma lately. But it's still not enough... need to do more! This is them on a walk we took a couple weeks ago.

I also just have to share this cute picture. I tried to take a nap the other day but came to find that there was no room left for me. Ian and the 3 cats were doing all the napping!

Today was really nice - after the movies we ended up at Ian's grandparents house and we finally gave his grandma Doris the digital camera we got for her. She loved it!!! It's her first digital one.

OK now I feel a bit more caught up :) And there are more blog posts coming soon, I swear!

My Fave Workout Right Now

There are so many things I've been meaning to post about here. Plus I totally missed doing a one month video... I guess I'll do one at two months instead! OK so for today, a quick post about my favorite workout I've been doing lately...

Leslie Sansone's 3 Mile Walk Away the Pounds Express! I have been using her videos for years. They may be a little corny, but they WORK. They are a great full body workout with easy-to-learn moves and they always make me feel good. It helps that Leslie is always encouraging, too :) I've had this video for years. I always go back to her stuff. When I got the huge blister on my foot and it became painful to walk I started doing these again. It was easier for my foot to go up and down on the floor than for me to be outside walking. Not to mention it has been HOT!!!

If you have never tried her videos, I highly recommend them. The Walk Away the Pounds Express is a great system - I have the videos in 1 mile, 2 mile, 3mile, and 4 mile. I am also coveting the 5 mile.
I have the first four on separate DVD's but these days you can buy it in one collection for only $10. What a freaking steal. I probably paid $20 for each one separately back in the day. If you are interested click the photo to go to the page on Amazon.

I am already feeling my legs AND arms getting stronger! I am using 3lb hand weights during most of the walk.

Overall I am SO enjoying being more active. I do this workout 2-3 time a week, take a walk or two, and then on the weekends we have been active doing hiking, geocaching, whatever we feel like! It feels great.

If you are interested in trying some Leslie Sansone workouts just hop on amazon and put in your name.  I also have the Walk & Kick DVD and the Walk & Jog DVD and I really like those. They get the heart rate up so well. She has another series called Slim, Shape & Sculpt which is similar to step aerobics, except more simple and I like it so much better. I don't see those on Amazon though and I'm not sure if you can still buy those. I've never been disappointed by any of Leslie's stuff. Just as a disclaimer I don't have any affiliation... I just really like her stuff :)

One Month Progress

I had surgery one month ago yesterday. Since we got home late from a trip, I did my weigh in, photos, and measurements today. I was so pleasantly surprised by how far I've come in a month!

First, the basics. I have lost 37 pounds and almost 25 inches!!! My BMI has gone from 51.6 to 45.4
Starting weight = 310, Current weight = 273

Next, the photos, because everybody loves photos :)

The first set is in a top that fit me well at my heaviest, and is now nice and roomy:

Now the next couple sets are in some tank tops that were too snug on me at the beginning and are pretty much fitting now.

I also put this little animation together... it was Ian's idea. I would like to do this with the grey tank top photos too because I think you can see more, but it's a lot of work so maybe I'll do those when I take my 2 month photos. I like this because you can REALLY see the difference looking at it this way:

I also want to share my measurements. As I mentioned up top I lost a total of almost 25 inches in the first month! I did want to post the breakdown of all the measurements both for my own records and for anyone who might be interested.

Neck: Was 18", Now 16 1/2"
Bust: Was 54 1/2", Now 50"
Chest: Was 51", Now 46"
Upper Arm: Was 20 3/4", Now 19 3/4"
Forearm: Was 13", Now 12 1/4"
Above Waist: Was 56 1/4", Now 54"
Waist: Was 55 1/4", Now 52"
Hip: Was 61", Now 58 1/2"
Thigh: Was 32", Now 29 1/2"
Calf: Was 20 1/2", Now 19 1/2"
Foot: Was 10 3/4", Now 10 1/4"

Total inches measured - Was 393", Now 368 1/4" (Loss of 24 3/4")


I have a lot to say as far as how I'm feeling at 1 month out and what life is like but I will save that for the next post because it's late and I'm exhausted! But just know that I'm very very happy :)

Hello Clothes, Goodbye Clothes

Yesterday and today have mostly been spent going through my closet, and a huge storage bin of clothes. My current clothes we getting quite loose. I am still wearing quite a lot of them - the ones that I was wearing VERY tight on me before and now they fit well. But some are too big and had to go. I also had some older stuff I just didn't want anymore, even if it is still smaller. Besides all this my closet was a bit of a mess, stuff on the floor, drawers all crammed with random stuff. I needed to go through everything.

This is where I started. Looks innocent enough.

There's my laundry basket with clean stuff to put away, a pile of a few new things from Wal-Mart and Old Nacy, and a box of clothes  I purchased from ebay. This was all in our room and got me thinking, it's time to tackle this stuff.

Somehow, a little while later, I was looking at this:

I first separated out all my warm stuff since it's summer and I don't need it. I put some in the get rid of pile, and some in the keep pile. It may not fit anymore when it gets cooler but for now I'll keep it. It's Colorado so I may sometimes need these at random times or if I go up in to the mountains.

When I finished I had a whole box of stuff for Goodwill:

A good pile of still-too-small stuff to put back in my storage bins (these were new items from my mom, from an ebay purchase, etc that are still sizes 20,18,16):

And I had this ENTIRE RACK of clothing that I am getting rid of!!!!

That's a bunch of stuff going bye-bye. I was looking into this plus size consignment shop today, but they have SO MANY rules and restrictions so it may not be the best option. I might just have a little garage sale in a couple weeks. For now this is just sitting in my living room. Our cat Big Orange was enjoying this clothing rack in the oddest way...

Ok dude, whatever makes you happy I guess!

Alright so back to clothes. Once I had all this stuff done, divided, etc, my closet was looking pretty bare:

That's my whole closet, yes. By the way I would like to take this opportunity to point out that my husband has a gazillion times more closet space than I do. This is HIS side of the closet:

The little part you see to the right begins my little portion of the closet! I am pretty good about clothes. It may seem like I had a ton but a lot of it had been stored in crazy places. I typically keep ONLY what fits hanging in my closet and only things I actually wear... so it stays small. But I may end up stealing some more closet space from hubby as time goes on.

Anyway my closet was pretty bare and then I thought... if all this stuff was too big, maybe some of my smaller items might fit now. So I pulled out a big tub of clothes marked:

These were stored away when they became too small. I got rid of things I didn't want but kept things I thought I'd really want to wear again. So I pulled out this bin today and tried on everything in the box. EVERY SINGLE THING FIT except for ONE tank top that although marked an 18, fits like a 14. Also there were more sweaters and sweatshirts so I left them in the bin.
 During the trying on, it was a bit messy again:

Luckily I had Supervisor Cat to keep the project on track. (That's Phoebe.)

I was particularly excited about these sets of tops I have with a plain tank top and a striped lightweight collared shirt over it. I have it in 3 colors. I used to wear them ALL the time 3 summers ago because they are so light and comfy. They fit again!!! Just a tad snug across the back but they work and in 10 more lbs they will be perfect. Here I am all happy with one of them on:

Disclaimer: Objects in mirror may be chubbier than they appear. LOL. Part of my body is cut off in the reflection so I am not as thin as I look there lol.

Once I tried it all on and knew it fit I added it all to my closet. Now we're talkin' :

A nice full closet again, with lots ready to be worn!!

I worked HARD, and I was tired, but by the time I wanted to take a nap, it appeared all the spots were already taken:

Ain't that a kick in the head.

My First 5K

Today I walked a 5K! Not only was this my first 5K but it was my first time participating in an organized athletic event of any kind. This was Strides For Epilepsy and it took place at City Park in Denver. My friend Brandy's son has epilepsy and they do this event every year. I am so glad I was able to join this time!

The weather was awful - cold and rainy - but we made the best of it and had a great time anyway!

Here's a pic of me in the car beforehand. I was happy to be there :)

Got all checked in and they gave me my number. I couldn't believe I got this number because 7 is my lucky number (and my birthday)... and I got 3 7's!!! Here I am all ready to go!

This is my friend Brandy ~ she's dressed up as Wonder Woman! The whole team was supposed to be dressed as superheroes and a lot of them did. I didn't get the memo in time. Brandy looked so freaking cute!! She normally runs but has 3 broken toes right now. I was happy to get to walk with her :)

Ian was there too and he took some photos while we were walking which was really nice. Here's my favorite one :

And finally ... 3.2 miles later... the finish line! We actually had to re-enact this because the camera wouldn't take the photo the first time... but I don't care! I'm just happy I finished :)

All in all it was a fun day for a great cause. Brandy's team raised almost $2,000. I just feel great to have accomplished this. I've never participated in any sort of organized athletic event before. I know a 5K isn't HUGE, but it's a great start for me. I wonder how many people out there have had weight loss surgery and 3 weeks later been out there doing a 5K. It makes me feel good that I am already being this active!! This week alone I've done FIVE one-hour workouts. Whoo hoo! I see many more of these types of activities in my future and I'm excited about it.

More Things I've Been Eating

I think I'll be doing these posts regularly, sort of as an update of various things I'm eating at different stages. I've eaten a bunch more different things since my last post so I thought I would share! At this point I am 3 1/2 weeks out and still in the semi-solid soft food stage. I'm still not eating anything crunchy or too difficult to chew.

So without further ado, here are some more things I've been eating lately.

I ate some of this pot roast a couple of times. While the flavor is absolutely delicious, I still find this to be a little too much chewing for me right now. Also I could only eat a small amount of the package before it went bad. Might be better when Ian can eat it too so we can get more use out of it while it's fresh. (The beans you see are edamame.)

I shared the egg beaters in my last post but this is just to show that I decided to add some ham. That was REALLY tasty and made it just like an omlette. :) I used thinly sliced deli ham so there wasn't too much chewing involved.

This is the same Market Pantry chicken salad that I mentioned in my last food post... here I had some diced pears with it, from a fruit cup. Funny thing... I always LOVED fruit cup pears before and now they tasted sickeningly sweet. I didn't care for them.

This was a breakfast one day. The colors look funky and I can't seem to fix it... but it's 2 ounces of cottage cheese with a swirl of yogurt mixed in... and 1 ounce of cantaloupe. I still absolutely love cantaloupe and I wish I could just sit down and eat the whole container of it, but I have only had a few small chunks since I am trying to stay focused on my protein intake.

Hormel chili... I buy the no beans one and add my own so that I can have a much higher proportion of beans. This is made up of 1 oz dark red kidney beans and 1 oz chili, plus 1/4 cup shredded cheese. It's pretty yummy... the picture looks gross, sorry. It really is yummy.

Ahhh, Morningstar Farms breakfast sausage patties!!! I love these. They are a meatless, soy based product. I have liked them for years, ever since a vegetarian roommate introduced me to them. I don't care for real sausage so I make these a lot. Now post op I am appreciating them even more because of their high protein and low calorie counts. I put a little cheese on top to make it more moist and tasty. The bottom pic with my hand in it is so you can get an idea of the size.

This morning I got even more creative and added some egg beaters on top:

Have to say this is a SUPER satisfying breakfast. 1 oz egg beaters and 1/2 slice american cheese were added. All in all makes for a breakfast with 15 grams protein. Excellent.

And here is another Morningstar Farms product I like:

Do they taste exactly like a real chicken nugget? No. But I do like them. Good flavor and spices to it. Each nugget has 3 grams protein. I am NOT able to eat 3 nuggets, I discovered. So I eat 1/2 a string cheese with 2 nuggets for a total of 10 grams protein in the meal. I use nowhere near that much ranch.

I tried these fish fillets... seemed like an easy way to get some fish. They were OK but not something I'd buy again. I'll have to try making some of my own fish :) I was able to eat 1/2 this fillet, 2 ounces.

A shrimp cocktail... can we say heaven? Delicious cold shrimp and the kick of the cocktail sauce, oh yum. Shrimp are amazingly high in protein! This was 2 ounces and had 14 grams protein! I barely touched the sauce, will have to serve much less next time. Probably used not even 1/2 a tablespoon. I will definitely be eating shrimp often!! Low cal, no carbs, high protein and delicious!

 Banana with peanut butter! I might be the only person who has never combined these foods. Everyone says how much they love it. But personally I was always afraid of trying it for some reason. It just didnt appeal to me. I decided to go for it though and i loved it! This is 1/2 a very small banana cut into slices with a TBS of peanut butter split between the pieces. I saved the other half of the banana in some tin foil in the freezer, planning to have it later. I had heard bananas had protein so I thought the combo would be a very high protein snack, but in this small of a portion the banana comes out to zero protein. I probably won't have this too often but it would be great for satisfying a sweet tooth :)