Carrie G.

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Wow, what a year. I haven't posted anything is so long. I wanted to just give a quick update. I now weigh 140 and wear a size 4-6. I feel terrific and can't complain about excess skin. I am so thankful! I still have 15 pounds to goal and am slowly still taking pounds off. I should be at goal by summer. This is still the best decision I ever made for my self!

I have reached somewhat of a plateau. My weight loss seems to be slowing up a little bit. I am also experiencing quite a bit of hair loss. My doctor says it is normal. I really believe I am getting in plenty of protein. Doc says it should only last a month or two and then it will stop. He gave me an Rx for Iron but everything else seems good. I just need to get my weight loss rolling again. I know plateaus are to be expected but I still hate them all the same.

All in all 65 pounds lost in the first 4 months is something I should celebrate, right?!

Time for 4 month pics!

I can't believe it has already been three months since surgery. The weight just keeps coming off and my clothes are getting bigger and bigger. I am finding now that I am comfortably in a 14. My old 18's I can put on and take off while they are still buttoned and zipped! I have 79 pounds to go to reach my goal!

Its time for new pictures. A friend of mine & I went to get a new look at a salon in Highland Park. I have a vastly different cut/style and new color. So definitley time for new pictures!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. We heated the pool and spent the entire weekend swimming and playing. I feel wonderful! I am in a size loosely and very close to moving into a 14! I had to go down a size in bathing suits! Yeah!

I have lost 19 pounds since my doctor's appt in early April. My next follow-up is the 2nd week in June. My mini goal is to lose a total of 30 pounds by then. I have 11 more to go to make that goal. That will keep me at my bigger goal of losing at least 15 pounds per month!

Eating is pretty easy for me now. I dont seem to have things get "stuck" any more. I of course still avoid sugar, carbonated drinks and bread. My favorite snack food is pineapple with li hing mui powder (kind of a plum flavored powder that i was introduced to in Hawaii) and cottage cheese.

One of the best things about this whole process is that I feel good about myself again. And I may not actually be pretty by some standards LOL but the imporant thing is that I "feel" pretty! I feel good about myself again. Even though I am not thin and I am still clinically obese, I feel pretty. I am buying jewlery and makeup and concerned about my hair style. And even though it is somewhat pointless I am buying clothes and of course new sandals (I am a sandal finatic).

Well, it looks like I only actually lost 4-5 pounds while I was away. I guess considering it was 16 days and average weight loss is 10-15 pounds a month, then that is what I should have expected. I'll take 4 pounds!

Funny thing is though, after being gone away from my friends and family for that amount of time, when I came home, there were lots of WOWs! My friends especially were totally shocked at how I looked and they paid me lots of compliments. The only thing I can think is that I lost inches while I was away rather than pounds. 

I am wearing a 14/16 and even some Jr size XL. It has been a long time since I have been this small. I know I shouldn't but I have been buying clothes. I can't help it. I can finally look wear cute clothes!

Eating in Hawaii was very easy. I mainly ate soup and rice and steak. I am have my hunger feeling back which I was not missing but it decided to come back anyway. I still don't eat much, right around 1 measuring cup. I have been very careful to stop eating as soon as I feel full. 

I did a lot of exercising by walking, swimming and kayaking. The trip was long and I missed my family terribly. It is good to be home!

I got called away on business unexpectedly on Wednesday. I had to fly to Honolulu again. I will be here until May 3rd. This is my first business trip since surgery. It will be a true test of how hard or easy it is to find things to eat. So far, so good. I have only had one dumping episode. I ate some kind of chinese food that was beef and it was sweet. It made me very sick to my stomach and of course I dumped before I even left the restaurant.

I have a hotel room with a full kitchen, so I went to the store and bought me some juice, water and crackers and a few other things. It is easier to eat that than try to get out and go buy a full meal.

I need to take some pics of myself for month #2. It is fun being back here in Honolulu. I was here just before my surgery and seeing some of my co-workers and friends this trip has been a blast. They keep telling me over and over again how shocked they are at how much I have changed and how good I look. That really makes me feel good.

Before I left, I weighed 217 putting my weight loss at 40 pounds. I will not be able to see the scales for 17 days! Well, I will be working in doctor's offices here and I guess I could sneak a peek but that would seem vain and embarrassing. So I will just wait.

I am getting some sun and maybe a haircut and highlight. It would be fun to look a little different when I get to see my family again. This is the longest I have ever been away from them.

Ok, so I was totally bummed a couple of weeks ago when after several of my family members used my scales and thought they weighed significantly less than they really do. So, I decided to go and buy a new set of scales. Sure enough the new set showed me to weigh 6 pounds more! I was so disappointed to have to lose the same 6 pounds again. And it was so much of a difference that I didnt know how it was going to fall in line with the doctor's scales. I know I shouldn't be putting so much importance on this but I do. I just cannot seem to stay off of the dang things. So I was stuck for quite a while until I got those pounds off and the scale started to move beyond where I left off on the old scales.

Now for the doctor's appointment. I was worried it too was going to measure me heavier. Thankfully, it measures exactly what my new home scales do. I weighed 223 starting at 257 puts me at a total official weight loss of 34 pounds. Since my last visit 1 month ago, I have lost 15 pounds. The nurse was really pleased. She indicated that people in their clinic lose 10 pounds and that no one had lost 15 in a month except one other person and he had lost 16. That sure made me feel good.

I talked to the doctor about some of my issues with dumping. He seemed to think that the dumping that I am experiencing is attributed to 1 of 2 things. I am either still drinking too much while I eat or I am just flat out picking the wrong things to eat. He has asked me to now elimate cream soups because of the fat content. He wants me to eat soups with a water base.

He asked if I was trying new things and I told him I dont like pasta and eggs any more and that I have a really hard time eating chicken breast. He told me to just eliminate them all together. He encouraged me to eat beef cooked more rare and to chew it well. I was surprised by that. He said chewed well it turns to a watery consistency and digests well. He also said I could eat rice in small quanities. But a big time NO on any kind of bread! Not that I have been after some bread but I had to ask about it LOL.

The doc was very pleased with my weight loss and told me to keep up the good work. He said I really need to pay attention to these first 5 months and take full advantage. I am trying! If I can stay on this track I should be at my goal by November!

My next follow-up is in 2 months. I need to lose 30 pounds by then!

I was wondering how I would feel about cooking and everyone else eating all of the great food at Easter time. My Aunt I cooked a feast of ribs, ham, cheesy potatoes, baked beans, brownies and a fruit and veggie tray. I really enjoy cooking and I have not lost that after surgery. Easter was no exception. I even made the brownies and I did not lick any spoon or my fingers LOL. I was too scared.

I ate 2 oz of potatoes, 2oz of beans and 2 oz of rib meat. Then later I had a couple of pineapple chunks. I was definitely full. A couple of hours later, I ate a deviled egg half.

The pineapple made up for not having the brownies. I really didnt even care about all of the sweets that were around. I have never been one for sweets, except for during the holidays. 

It was a great Easter, a great meal and my WLS did not make me feel like I was handicapped or missing out on anything!

Today is exactly 1 month from my surgery. I am feeling great. I am still learning how to eat. I have experienced food getting stuck. That is no fun! It feels like a golf ball yo-yoing in my esophagus. I have learned to make myself cough it up. That is a thrill. Throwing up is totally different now. It is more like a productive cough. Which is much easier. So far it has happened 3 times.

I have also experienced dumping syndrome. I ate some potatoe soup that I believe was a little too rich. I felt so bad. Thankfully, the feeling only lasted 20-30 minutes. Another time it happened was after I took a couple of sips of whole milk. I am a whole milk freak! I miss it terribly. Skim milk just isnt the same. So, I decided to give it a try and it made me so miserable, I will never do it again LOL.

Outside of those incidents, I am getting my protein down. I don't think I quite getting all of the fluids I need. I have been somewhat dizzy and I have read that can be attributed to dehydration. My incision is healing good. Still itchy and red but looking better. I am sore bending over but that is about it.

I am still eating mainly soup but I have introduced some mushies, like mashed potatoes, refried beans and tilapia.

The great news is, I feel wonderful. I am down to 224 today which puts my loss at 33 pounds for the first month. I am wearing blouses and jeans that I have not been able to get into in a very long time.

I am going to my first support meeting at my doctor's office tonight. I am really looking forward to it. I will take 1 month pictures and get them posted tonight.

I went to see my surgeon yesterday for my 2 week post op. I had lost 19 pounds in 13 days. Wow that was surprising to me! I can feel the loss in my clothing. Things fit just a little looser. The doctor said he could tell I had lost weight in my face and neck. 

I have had a hard time eating on the nutritionists regimine and admitted to the doctor that I had not been following the meal plan very closely. I have been good about eating only the cream soups and drinking lots of water. I also have been drinking 2 4oz protein shakes a day.  I am just not hungry enough to eat like that. My surgeon told me to eat only when I am hungry and as long as I am drinking all day then dont worry about the regimine.

My surgeon also told me that I have to stay on cream soup for another week. He said the longer the better and the more I stay on soup the faster I will lose the weight. 

I am going to try to stay off of the scales for the month and try try try to stay on the cream soup as well. My goal is to stay like this until my next appt on April 8th.