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I’m now down 46.5 pounds.  I lost another dress size. 

My brother turned me on to soy nuts as a snack.  They’re loaded with protein, very low in fat and very low in sugar.  They taste great, too.  Win-win situation.  Now I’m hooked on the stuff. 

I’ve been struggling a lot lately with eating speed.  I’m eating way too fast and consequently, I’m eating far too much.  I’m making a concerted effort today to get back on the right track.

I’ve lost another three pounds.  I’ve found that measuring everything is the key.  I’m the kind of person that’s a package eater.  In other words, I’ll eat the whole package rather than a portion of it.  Like last night, I thought of cooking up the entire package of eggplant parmesan and eating it, rather than just a single portion. 

So I find that if I dole out the amount I’m supposed to eat into little 2 oz. cups, I do much better.  I use the “soufflé” cups that I buy at Smart and Final (they’re the ones that you use for salsa at El Pollo Loco).  I bought the lids, too, and that way, it’s easy to take just the right amount of food with me for lunch.  I don’t overeat, and it transports very easily.  Well worth the few bucks to buy a sleeve of cups and a sleeve of lids. 

On another note, even though the pulmonologist has had me on antibiotics for about a month now, I’ve developed another sinus infection.  So he’s going to refer me to an ENT.  Meanwhile, I’m sick as a dog, and miserable.  I’ll be calling my regular doctor tomorrow to see if he’ll put me on a different antibiotic while I’m waiting for the referral. 

The sinus infection has given me headaches, and upper jaw pain bilaterally.  Just to be safe, I went to the dentist to make sure that nothing was wrong and wouldn’t you know it—all my fillings have cavities underneath them.  They all have to be replaced.  I not only have a sinus infection, I need major dental work done, too. 

But here’s the amalgam lining (it’s not a silver lining, because my fillings are amalgam).  I’ve decided to splurge on myself a bit and get the tooth whitening done after all the fillings are replaced.  

So now will I not only have dangly earrings, I’ll have a dazzling smile, t’boot!

No change in the scale.  I’m grateful.  I thought it’d have gone up.  I’ve been going out a lot, socializing with friends and family over lunches and dinners out, and I’ve been eating too fast and too much. 

It’s very, VERY hard to only eat one bite of food and then wait ten minutes before having the next.

Something amazing happened today.  I crossed my legs!

I am now down 40 pounds, 8 weeks after surgery. 

It was a rough day. 

I was in the car, heading up to my night class, when I realized that I hadn’t brought food with me.  No problem, I say to myself.  I stop into the supermarket, sidle on up to the deli counter, and ask for a quarter pound of turkey breast. 

I got back into the car, and ate one large slice, chewing it very well.  I started the car up and left the supermarket. 

Within minutes, I had horrific pain.  Pain like someone standing on my Lean Pocket with a stiletto pump.  And the pain just grew. 

I quickly pulled into another parking lot, put the car in park, and puked for the next 45 minutes.  My Lean Pocket became an Empty Pocket. 

Turkey from the deli counter?  I won’t be doing THAT again.

I have a neck!  I have an actual neck!  A neck that would allow me to wear long dangly earrings! 

Today I am down 38.5 pounds.  I think I’ll go buy some long dangly earrings.

Two days ago, I had my first dumping episode. I usually carry a meal in my purse, so that I’m not caught without proper nutrition.  Unfortunately, I’d already used it while helping my mom. A couple of hours later, I needed some more protein.  I was at my mom’s and used regular mayo to make tuna for myself.  BIG mistake. 

I got about two forkfuls of tuna salad into me, when I felt suddenly very full and slightly nauseated.  Two to three minutes later, I was running for the bathroom.  I had diarrhea; as soon as I could, I quickly made my exit, heading home.  As soon as I got home, I was in the bathroom again for round two.  Once the bout was over, I was tired and slept a while. 

Okay, so I’ve learned:  NO MAYO. 

My father is still in the hospital, and making very slow improvement.  My need to stress eat has abated somewhat. 

I visited my surgeon yesterday for my second postop follow-up.  Everything is fine.  Today I’m down 36 pounds from where I was on March 10th.

Today I am six weeks postop.  An incredible thing happened this evening.  It is something that I didn’t expect to happen so quickly. 

I fit. 

I went to my evening class, and had to sit in one of those dreadful schooldesks.  You know the ones—the kind where the seat is attached to the writing surface, and the desk sort of wraps around from the right hand side.  Today, for the first time in my adult life, I fit in the chair, and without the desk cutting into my flesh. 

Everyone in the class was ecstatic for me.  We’ve been using these desks for months and months now, and I always had to sit alongside the desk in a regular chair.  Today, I just plopped right into the seat, without a hitch.  

How cool is that?! 

I can now place a check mark next to that item on the list of things I hope to achieve.  Here’s the list, in no particular order: 

1. Not cringing at turnstiles

2. Walking comfortably through the center aisle of a schoolbus

3. Throwing out my diabetic meds

4. Sitting in a single-unit schooldesk with room between my belly and the desk -- DONE

5. Not needing a seatbelt extender on airplanes

6. Not being the fattest one in the room

7. Being able to walk the Yale Loop

8. Buying naughty things from Frederick’s and Victoria’s Secret

9. Going for a haircut and not feeling embarrassed when they pump/raise the chair

10. Asking the salesgirl to find it in a smaller size

11. Choosing any seat I want, not just the one that looks sturdy

12. Turning heads

13. Crossing my legs

14. Not having waistbands or bras cut into my flesh

15. Being picky about clothes

16. Dancing without everything bouncing

17. Reading the scale by looking straight down

18. Not being afraid of the scale in any doctor’s office

19. Flirting and not looking like a fool

20. Wearing sexy shoes

21. Not feeling like a freak at swimming pools and beaches

22. Handing off my fat clothes to someone

23. Borrowing skinny clothes from someone

24. Being able to wrap a regular sized towel all the way around me at the gym

25. Not having to wedge my ass into the seats at a baseball stadium or hockey arena

26. People not recognizing me

27. A man loaning me his jacket out of chivalry, and the jacket is way too big on me

28. Really wondering, “Do these jeans make my butt look fat?” without already knowing the answer

29. Not shying away from cameras

30. Not wondering, as a man picks me up and twirls me around, whether I’ve just given him a hernia.

According to the scale today, I’m down about 35.5 pounds in 41 days.  When I started this journey, my BMI was 50.1, putting me in the range of  “Super Obese.” Funny, whenever I hear that phrase, I keep picturing myself as a superhero for the common man--a very overweight woman in cape and tights.  I can just hear the voiceover now: 

"Look!  Over there!  It's an ostrich!  It's an Airbus!  No!  It's SUPEROBESE.  Yes, it's SUPEROBESE!  Able to leap tall chocolate cakes with a single bound!  SUPEROBESE!  Who can change the course of mighty buffet lines, bend forks in her bare hands, and who, disguised as Ila Press, mild mannered teacher from Southern California, fights for food, snacks, and a good beverage!" 

But back to today.  Today, my BMI dropped to 40.6.  I am no longer SUPEROBESE; instead I am "Extremely Obese," and I will soon be leaving the realm of “Extremely Obese” and be just plain old “Obese.”  Still, somehow, it seems perverse to joyously exclaim, “Hooray, I’m Extremely Obese!  Hot Damn!” 

Hot Damn, indeed.