Started exercising

I got home a week ago yesterday, and yes, i've been walking a bit...but last night i took my dogs on a nice 1 mile walk....at a brisk pace.  It felt so good.  I know I sound crazy, but i felt lighter, it felt easier.  It was a great feeling.  I'm up early today, going to take them out after the kids get off to school again.  I'm down 15 pounds this week...can't believe that either.  I was a little freaked out because i had gained 7 pounds in the hospital...but all that is gone...plus the 15lbs.  I can't believe it!  OK.  I guess the weird thing is...even sitting in the hospital...i still questioned if my weight loss would happen...i know it sounds weird, but i have failed so many times...it just didn't seem like it could be real.  But...IT IS!   :)

Thanks for letting me share my joy with all of you!

That is so great Kris.  I am glad you shared.  Isn't it wonderful to actually lose weight for a change and not struggle so much or be starving all the time.  I too have felt the exercise bug again now that I am lighter and it does not hurt to walk.  Just a wonderful feeling.

Keep up the good work.

Hi Lisa,
   That's wonderful.  And it is also very helpful to this pre-op.  I was just sitting her thinking that I can't believe I am going to be able to feel satisfied on a little bit of food.  I have lost about 36 lbs since Nov and that is great.  I know it is an achievement.  And I have done it by eating high protein and very low carbs.  Good for me.  But even with doing that, I have been very hungry all of that time.  I mean I feel hungry.  Head hunger, belly hunger - whichever or both, I feel hungry.  The very idea that I will not feel constant hunger and that a small portion will fill me up seems dreamlike.  I have been reading people's comments and it still seems unreal.  But I take it on faith.  Thanks for shoring up my faith for another few days.  Treading

Kristene -
You are doing so great.  I remember that I wasn't doing much by way of exercising for almost a month after my surgery!  I too gained 7 pounds in the hospital and thought, "here we go again, I'm going to be the one that this surgery fails for," but then the weight just started falling off.  I spent a couple of days with my Mom at her place.  My DH came up on the weekend and already noticed a difference in how I looked.  Sorry, I'm rambling. . .

Anyway, back to the exercising.  I can now say that I love exercising.  I try to at least walk every day, and I lift weights 2 - 3 times a week.  I'm looking forward to winter (mostly because I know it's inevitable anyway that it will come) so that I can go snowshoeing again, which is something I tried for the first time last year.  I love it. 

So I just want to say that with your positive frame of mind and the fact that you're right out there exercising so soon, you are an inspiration to all those starting out on this journey.  Keep up the good work and have a great day! 
Kathy
P.S.  Have you signed up for a post-op support group at Tufts yet?  I go to the one with Dr. Greenberg that meets on the 2nd Tuesday of every month.  Do you go to the general post-op meetings on the 3rd Monday of the month?  I used to go, but the cost of gas and parking has kind of put a damper on them lately, although I'm thinking of starting up again. 

Kathy,

You are an inspiration, we are about a year apart in surgery dates, and its amazing to see how well you have done.  I haven't signed up for a post op group yet.  But i do plan on going to the general one on the 15th of this month.  I actually don't know how to go about signing up for the post op groups....i'm sure i'll either find out at my 2 week visit on Wed, or i have an appointment in the begining of Oct with Kim...hmmm, can't remember her last name...the psychologist.  Maybe if you go the the one on Monday, we could meet there.  I know exactly what your saying with gas though, the trips are rough, and you are further away than me.  This summer alone was tough, all my appointments, and the 4 week behavior change classes were done from the last week of June, till the first week of August, so i was going to Boston alot, my bank account felt it let me tell ya! 

Ya know you were talking about how quickly the weight loss is noticed, well,  I went to my work today to stop in.  I don't know if they were just saying what they thought they should, but my coworkers all said they could notice the change already.  I do know that the pants i wore today, though they weren't loose, i could fit into them, and i couldn't before surgery....well...enough of my own praises...lol


Take care

I think her name is Dr. Kim Gerber.  She just recently got married.  She's the one who ran our behavior modification classes too.  I liked her.  She's very nice.

I think I got my info about the post-op support groups from Gloria, one of the RDs, on my first appointment after surgery (she's gone now, how said -  I liked her a lot). 

Well I just may go on Monday night.  I'll let you know for sure on Monday.  It would be great to meet you.  But I have a hair appointment on Tuesday and another support group meeting on Wednesday in Nashua.  That would take me out of the house 3 nights in a row -- aaaaaah such a social life I have! 

Don't stop singing your praises.  Your wow moments are going to start coming so fast, you'll hardly have time to savor them before a new event wows you.  It's so cool!

It's the weirdest thing but I also figured I *might* loose *a little* weight, even if I was completely compliant, did everything my doctor said, ate protein first and limited fat & sugars, exercised like crazy and drank my water.  I just figured, hey, if 50% excess weight loss is considered sucessful, I'll take it.  At least it might not come back on as quick as it did other times. 

And instead, my whole life changed.  Everything changed.  And it took awhile for me to believe in my pouch, believe in myself, believe that making a permentant lifestyle change would keep the weight from coming back.  But now I feel like a different person.  Everyone says they are the same after surgery.  I've got the same values, the same people I love, the same personality - BUT *I* am NOT the same.  I believe I can live a life in a body that fits me.  I believe I will never be obese again.  I believe I am capable and athletic.  I believe I can re-write my life story from here. 

Congradulations on your first big WOW moment.  There will be many more coming up as you realize, repeatedly, that you do what you didn't think you could do and you no longer live in the body you are used to seeing in the mirror.