In The Century Club! 100 LBS Gone Forever!!

Well, it has been 6.5 months since I had my RNY gastric bypass surgery and as of today I have lost 100 lbs!!!!! I am so psyched!!

I can't believe how good I feel, how sexy I feel and how free I feel! I can do so much more than I have in years and I feel alive for the first time in at least 10 years!

I don't feel that I have given up a whole lot. I don't "dump" from eating sugar or fats and when I do eat those things I find I actually lose more lol. I can eat somewhat normally, not having my portions restricted too much. Of course I can't eat 2nd or third portions anymore and eat probably half to 2/3 of a real portion but I don't feel like I am deprived at all.

I can't believe I've lost 100 lbs in 6 months and hit my first big goal. My next goal I wanted to reach by my birthday on April 27, 2009...which is to be below 200 lbs. I am 208.6 as of today so I think I will reach that goal no problem!

Sick of Plateaus

Well, it's getting closer to Valentine's Day and I'm not sure my little goal will be met. I am in another plateau! I was down to 215 lbs and went up to 220 for a day or two and am now back down to 217 lbs. I can't seem to get back down to 215 lbs and I have been eating right. I know it's water weight cuz I've been feeling bloated but man is it ever frustrating!

I am worried now. First I am worried that I won't lose 100 lbs for my Valentine's goal which should have been easy to do. Next I am worried that I won't get to Onderland by my birthday in April.

Sometimes these plateaus don't worry me much but this one has me worried. The last time I was this weight was when I got pregnant for my youngest child and I had been this weight for a while. I'm just concerned that my body will want to stay at this weight....forever....

I lost the first 70 lbs so easily, then it all slowed down. I know I can now eat more than a few months ago but still not enough to gain weight...

I can't wait for winter to be over so I can get out more and get more active! That will help me lose more!!

New mini goal

I am really hoping to be down to 199 lbs or "Onderland" by my 40th birthday which is April 27th of this year. I am freaking out a bit that I won't get there but I have decided to make myself a mini goal in the meantime.

I want to have lost 100 lbs by Valentine's Day. I have lost 89 lbs as of today so that would be 11 lbs to lose in a month...seems attainable right? Well, I hope it is cuz my weight loss is so weird lately!

I will be on a stall for a while, then gain a pound or two then all of a sudden BOOM! I lose anywhere from 1-10 lbs suddenly lol.

I admit that I don't follow what I am supposed to eat religiously, nor do I exercise like I should but it also seems that when I cheat a bit with a forbidden food I seem to lose.....weird!

Anyways, let's see if I happen to get down 11 more pounds in the next month. If I can do that then I am so close to hitting Onderland by my birthday!!

Christmas Goal

Ok, I know it's after Christmas now but I had to post what's going on with a goal I had set. I had wanted to be down to 225 lbs by Christmas and was stuck at about 228 lbs for a few weeks. I got within a 1/2 lb of that goal as of Christmas day.

Today however, I got on the scale and was 222.4 lbs! That means in the past week I have lost 6 lbs! I am so exicted about this! I was sick yesterday, I think I had a touch of the flu and was in the bathroom a few times with the runs (TMI I know lol) but I don't think that accounts for all the weight loss. I have also been more active and Chris got me a leg machine to work out with for Christmas so I was using that a bit too. I've also been eating more, not all bad foods but I normally don't eat enough which is probably why my weight loss slows down. I've had some sweets but not many so I am surprised still to have lost that much!

I am 12 lbs away from hitting the century club, which means I will have lost 100 lbs! I am also close to Onderland, being below 200 lbs! I haven't been there in about 16 years!!

I am so excited to have lost weight through the holidays for once, instead of gaining lol. I love my RNY!

Hair Loss

Wow, it's been almost a month since I've posted a blog! Bad me!!

Anyways, in that time I started to notice that a bit of my hair was "shedding", kinda like the amount of hair you tend to lose after having a baby. I wasn't concerned. THEN, one day I am in the shower and noticed my hands were covered in hair! Gobs of it!! I didn't really panic but I did think, ok here we go....

I knew that there was a possibility of losing some hair. It's a much talked about subject after weight loss surgery. I think it's the combination of the anesthetic from surgery and the rapid weight loss. At any rate, you can lose hair and a lot of it. One of the reasons you need to be diligent with taking protein supplements is that it is supposed to help prevent hair loss.

I started to get a bit lax in taking my protein shakes. I was supposed to take two a day and I was lucky if I got one in, then it was down to 2-3 per week. Well, that's when the hair started to go.

I didn't panic though. I had hoped and thought I'd be one of the lucky ones who didn't experience this but I was. I had had surgeries before and never had hair loss. Anyways, I just thought I'd ride it out.

Well, after clogging the drains many times and getting sick and tired of having to try and get all the lost hairs off my hands when I shampooed, I decided to do something about it. I went to my good friends on obesityhelp.com and asked them for their advice. One of the girls there who lives in Windsor and goes to my support group responded with what our surgeon suggested (we have the same surgeon also). He suggests a vitamin called Maxi-Hair that I guess you can only get in the states.

Last week my mom had to cross the border with my grandma so she offered to pick me up some. She managed to find some for me, talk about horse pills!! Now, we are not supposed to swallow anything bigger than an M&M so I cut the first one in half and it was still hard to swallow. I am not big on taking pills lol. After that first one I got lazy and didn`t cut them but man, if you swallow them wrong...it hurts going down sideways!

So, it`s been a week now since I started taking them. They are good for hair growth, nails and skin. So far I have noticed my skin is getting better. I usually have eczema on my hands pretty bad in the winter and it`s all cleared up! I think the hair loss has slowed down a bit but I am also not taking my protein shakes like I should be. I am just so tired of them. I think I am going to try some more protein bars instead of the shakes.

I`m glad I have a lot of hair so the loss is not noticeable to anyone but me. If I run my hands through my hair I can see a ton of lost hairs on them after pulling them away and my hair feels thinned out. I have always had very healthy hair, even though I dye it, and now it`s breaking and I have split ends, yuck!

Hopefully things get better from here on out. On the up side, I have now lost 80 lbs in 4.5 months and am past the halfway to goal mark! I tried on some jeans the other day, size 18 and they not only fit but they are a tad bit on the loose side! From a size 26 to 18 in 4 months! I also bought a large shirt, no more 5X`s!! I love the compliments I get now lol. I am 3 lbs away from the goal I wanted to hit by Christmas. I am loving my RNY and so proud of myself! Go me!!

Hell Is...Hitting A Plateau!

Ok this is my beef.....I've done so good losing weight after my surgery, I mean, 71 lbs in 3 months is nothing to sneeze at! The past 2-3 weeks though are driving me nuts!!

I know I've hit a plateau, which is where your body goes "whoa man, she's starving herself so let's hang onto some fat to use for energy!" I've lost maybe 2 lbs total this month which is frustrating after seeing 10-20 lbs come off in a month prior to this.

I know my weight loss is supposed to slow down somewhat but it's still supposed to be pretty fast coming off for the first 6 months right? I worry myself that if my weight loss slows down now I will never get to my goal weight. I should add that my surgeon told me to aim for a weight of 150-160 lbs instead of the goal of 140 lbs I set. I know I will have some loose skin that will account for some of that weight also. I have about 88 lbs more to lose. After weight loss surgery you generally have an 18 month window to lose your weight before you are in the maintenance stage. I worry that if I slow down now I'll never get to goal...

Ok, so it's been a couple weeks and I can't say I'm in a complete stall. I've still lost 1-2 lbs but oh so painfully slowly! I wanted to lose another 20 lbs by Christmas...yeah right! I weigh 137 lbs right now and for sure want to be below 200 by my birthday in April. That would average losing about 2 lbs a week.

I have been horrible in getting my protein shakes in lately and I know that is not a good thing. My hair is starting to shed a bit more than normal which worries me. A lot of ppl I know who had this surgery lost their hair around the 3 month mark, not all of it (don't want to scare you too much! lol) but a good bit of it. I am trying not to allow that to happen and one way is to get in enough protein, which I am not doing right now....

Anyways, hopefully by my next post I can tell you I've gotten over this danged plateau and am on my way to my goal weight!

Hi, My Name Is Gina And I Am A Binge Eater

Allow me to explain the title of this blog with what happened to me this past weekend.

On Thursday afternoon my mother asked me if I wanted to go out with her and my 3 year old niece to walk through Ojibway Park to which I said yes. On the way she said she was going to take my niece through the McDonald's drive thru but then changed her mind and we ended up at Appleby's.

I have not really gone to any restaurants since my surgery for a few reasons. First I was afraid that there'd be nothing on the menu I could handle since I haven't been able to eat much or keep certain new foods down. Also I was afraid of wasting food or eating too much and needing to throw it up.

Well I ended up ordering the appetizer sampler which has riblets, cheese quesadillas, mozzarella sticks, & tortilla chips with spinach dip. I also ordered french onion soup but I only sipped the broth part. I shared the appetizer with my mom and I ordered water to drink. I didn't eat a whole bunch but I felt bad about my choice as there was a lot of carbs.

Afterwards we walked for about a mile through Ojibway Park so I didn't feel as bad. Thing is....I couldn't stop thinking about that appetizer sampler after that!

Friday night Chris and I went to Blockbuster to get some movies to watch and I suggested going to get some take out at Appleby's. It had been on my mind all day! This time I got the sampler and also a banana/mango smoothie (not a good choice but I am tired of water and stay away from pop which is my downfall). I ate about half of it while watching movies. Eating while watching tv is not good as you are not aware of how much you eat and you end up eating more than you should.

On Saturday it was my niece's birthday and my sister decided to take the younger kids to see Madagascar 2 at the theater. I got Kalli (my 7 year old) a kiddie popcorn deal with twizzlers and drink. She ended up not wanting any of it so I ate the popcorn and twizzler. After the movie we went back to my sister's where we had stuffed crust pizza from Little Caesar's. I had a piece and a crazy bread stick but I only ate half of each. Then I had a small piece of chocolate pudding cake and a small scoop of chocolate ice cream but only ate half of that also.

I felt like such a failure after eating all I did this weekend. I posted about how I felt on obesityhelp.com and thank goodness for the good support we all receive there! One of the supporters is from my own Windsor Weight Loss Surgery Support Group. Dawn e-mailed me and told me I sounded a lot like her, a binge eater. I thought "omg yes! How could I forget?!" I do binge eat but I haven't since my surgery. It's also getting to be almost that time of month and I always binged more at that time. I don't feel so bad now. I've also tried to eat better today. I am getting myself back on track. I've failed other weight loss attempts before by cheating and feeling I failed but this time I have a tool to help me...my surgery! I am getting back on track.

I am such a perfectionist so I do tend to be hard on myself. I know I am not perfect but I have to accept that I am human and will slip up, but as long as I recognize that I am allowed to make mistakes as long as I fix it after than I will be fine!

Binge eating is not done out of hunger! I feel hungry but it's head hunger, not once did my tummy growl! I can usually take or leave food and have to remind myself to eat. I will always struggle with not binging but at least I know what my problem is and can plan ahead to avoid situations. I can also slip up and not feel I failed...I will just get back on track!