All's well in Jupiterland (x post)

All's well in Jupiterland, I just am too busy living life to discuss it, I guess! If you remember me, you know I had RNY in July 2007-- started with a BMI of about 62, and am now a BMI around 25.

Sig Ot and I are doing well. I'm still up and down between 149-157 pounds, (am 150 today) over and over-- I retain buckets of water when I exercise and I still do Zumba 2x a week and try to walk most days.  I still count every calorie M-F, (I eat 1700 a day) and am looser on weekends but not crazy-go-nuts, and eat like it's going out of style on holidays. No regain to speak of, and I feel good and clothes still fit well over 3 years after I started losing, so all's well inna world, I suppose!

Still love cooking-- the guy who was helping me with my website crapped out but I'll get on it when I can-- I have recipes galore (I just made a chicken alfredo casserole that's mindblowing.) My meals tend to be about 200 cals for breakfast, 300 for lunch, 500 or more for dinner, with plenty of snacks-- I eat an apple every fweakin' day because I love apples, and end most nights with a whole cup of greek yogurt and tbsp of Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter, which is about the world's most perfect food. I have ice cream in one form or another about 4 times a week in the summer, and it works for me. So the post RNY lifestyle doesn't have to be a death March: it's about management, not deprivation. Eat smarter, not less.

My most recent pic is quasi-racy because I wanted people to have a sense of what's achievable with work, a plastic surgeon and a little moxie so I done dismembered m'self to show it-- I have 2 more rounds of plastics to endure (my ass is heinous and will be done this summer, and thighs when I win the lotto.) You lose 220 pounds, you're gonna have skin-- that's just the name of that game. I've had my face, chest (no implants, now a 34D from a 48H), gut and arms reconstructed already. Well, and my hair, which came back inexplicably curly after my last 13 hour surgery!

Thanks for asking after me, to those who have-- I still exist and am doing really well, flu notwithstanding!

i have no idea who you are, but your a god send to me today! i weight as much as your highest weight was! and to see what you have gone through and done is amazing! thanks for sharing

Well hello, Shari! So good to hear from you as you're a true legend on the RNY board (those otter bars, mmmmmm!)...happy that life is treating you well once again as you deserve this. You look incredible in your latest pic! Very inspirational! At 13.5 months out, I'm down slightly over 170 lbs., looking to drop another 30-40 or maybe more. My surgeon gave me the card of an associate plastic surgeon, but I think I'm waiting til next year to pursue that consult. I want to drop more lbs., tone & strengthen, and maintain a somewhat "goal" weight for a few months before undergoing major surgery once again. Not only does the recovery sound long and painful, this cutting seems way more drastic than the keyhole laproscopic incisions...I admit I'm scared and cannot stomach any narcotic pain meds.

So glad you posted; you're often thought about and mentioned, and I'm glad you're happily busy. Stay in touch!

~Linda in S FL

So good to see you are doing so great...I was wondering about you and how things were going.. You were a great inspiration to me as I was fighting with the insurance when you had your surgery.. I followed you all the time..Your weight loss and encouragement was great.. and  I can remember when you had your plastics and had pictures of you wrapped from head to toe in bed with pillows all around you.. I felt so bad for you.. but I knew it was going to all pay off for you.. and it did.. Look at you now.. WOW.. you look fantastic..

I am so glad that you posted.. I realize that once we get off all the weight and are exercising every chance we get and doing all the things we could never do before that we will get really busy and find it hard to get on here like we did. But please take the time to post every now and then.. Those of us who have followed your journey really miss you and your inspiration.. Those who never got the pleasure of following you need to know your successes and get that encouragement too.. 

Thanks for posting and reminding us that the future is not grim.. that we will have a normal life again.. and be able to enjoy the little pleasure of some favorite food again in moderation..
Thanks for all the encouragement that you have given us to keep working our tool that WE CAN DO HARD THINGS....and make it to our goals and have a great life ahead..

Huggs...