First Surgery is Scheduled!

As I’ve mentioned here before, I have a lot of loose skin left from losing 100 pounds. My skin was stretched out for a very long time–pretty much my entire life–and I’m at the age where it is not going to return to where it should be on its own. So, I will need a few surgeries in order to remove loose skin from my stomach, arms, thighs…and don’t get me started on my boobs. They are just sad deflated balloons.

I found a plastic surgeon I really like, and my first surgery is scheduled for October 15! This surgery will be a tummy tuck (Abdominoplasty) and a breast lift (Bilateral Mastopexy) and augmentation. Last week I got to pick out my new boobs. That was rather surreal; I wore a stretchy bra to the appointment, and the surgeon put one implant into one side, and a slightly larger one in the other. Then it was like an eye exam, “which one is better, the left or the right?” First he went up in sizes, from pretty small all the way to what he called “ridiculous.” The large implants made me look heavier, and felt fairly unwieldy, I can definitely understand why women get breast reduction surgery. On the way up in size, I was leaning towards going pretty small, I guess because I am small right now. However, on the way back down, the ones that looked best to me were sort of medium-sized, around a C cup probably. Apparently that is why he does it this way, it is only on the way back down in size that you can get a really realistic view of which size will work best for you. I hadn’t realized until I was there what a monumental decision it was, these are the breasts I will have for the rest of my life. Very strange to be able to choose that.

I am nervous, but more about the recovery period than the surgery itself. I am also anxious about how long it will take for me to get back to my regular exercise routine, which I have come to really enjoy. It is outpatient surgery, so that’s a little scary. My parents are thankfully coming out to help with the kids and the driving. My wonderful, supportive husband is working from home all next week to help out. Even with the feelings of anxiety and nervousness, I feel ready, and very excited, to take this next step in my journey! I will keep everyone updated on my progress.

100 Pounds Lost!!! 5 to go?

I have lost 100 pounds as of last Friday, June 14! It is an amazing milestone, and one I am still having trouble wrapping my head around. I haven’t had time to blog about it until now, the kids are out of school for the summer and it has been a bit crazy around here.

In a way, it is good I was delayed, as it has given me more to talk about than just the celebratory “Yippee!” Since getting to that milestone last Friday, I have gone out to eat twice. I was really disciplined the rest of the week, and yet I have still gained back a little bit of the weight I had lost. No big deal, I am back to eating my usual over-abundance of vegetables and I’m sure the weight will come back off quickly. Some of it might even be water weight from the heavy doses of sodium in all restaurant meals. However, it shows just how disciplined I will have to be FOREVER to keep the weight off. You never know what is in a restaurant meal, even the vegetables can be drowning in butter (the likely culprit at one of the meals). I will likely need to keep dining out to a very infrequent occasion, and I will need to be very careful with what and how much I am eating at all times surrounding the meal. Is this how “naturally slim” people live? Are they always conscious of their eating and compensating for big meals? In any case, I had already known that maintenance would be pretty much identical to the actual weight loss part of all of this, so it is not really a surprise.

I have 5 pounds to get to my original goal weight (not counting that little bit I put back on this week), but as I mentioned in my last post, I’m not sure I’ll be trying to drop those or not. Most days I’m pretty happy with my size, and that is before the inevitable plastic surgery. The only thing that makes me want to lose those last 5 is that I am still in the “overweight” category on the BMI chart. However, that is with the extra skin, and I have quite a bit of muscle now that might be throwing off the number a bit. Not quite sure that number is at all important anyway, as all indications are that my health is about as good as it could possibly be. Mostly I want to see how well I can maintain where I am.

I’ve decided now that I am pretty near, or at, my goal, I’m going to start posting  tips about the changes I’ve made, and suggestions on how others can use these to get healthier. I’ll try my best to post one per day, we’ll see how well I can keep up. My suggestion will be to try the ones that sounds doable to you for the long-term, and try each one for awhile before trying something else. Stay tuned!

Thanks to all my family and friends for all of their support and encouragement so far on this journey. The journey is far from over, as it is a lifetime commitment!

Hooray! I’m Overweight!

Today is the first day I stepped on the scale, and I am no longer in the “Obese” range on the BMI scale. I have been a few pounds from this goal for a few weeks; with traveling, a cold, and the holidays, weight loss has been slow. This week I lost nearly 2 pounds. I never thought I’d be so happy to declare it, but I am Overweight! Hooray!

Less than 30 pounds to get to my initial goal of 135. That is the top of the healthy range on the BMI scale, but the closer I get to that goal, the more convinced I am that I won’t be stopping there. I feel like there is more than 30 pounds left to lose on my hips and thighs.

I had another milestone yesterday. I went to the outlet mall with my step-mom and my daughter. In years past, I have gone shopping with my step-mom, my step-sister, and other women in our family. I have mostly been an observer as they shopped together, helping each other pick out outfits to try on, and giving thumbs up or down to various choices. Yesterday, we went to my step-mother’s favorite store (Chico’s) and she helped me pick out clothes, and helped accessorize the things I chose. It may sound like a little thing, but it was amazing to go into the store and know that there would be clothes that would fit me and look good. Chico’s sizes go from 0 to 3, and I am now in a 2, so not even the top of the sizes anymore. To have my step-mom look at me in different outfits and declare how great I looked…I can’t even describe it. It made me cry (slightly embarrassing) tears of joy.

In a side note, the outlets we went to were the new Paragon Outlets in Livermore. Great outlet stores; if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area I would recommend them over the outlets in Gilroy. I felt they were easier to get to, and better laid out. They even had a pretty healthy salad place in the food court.

Over 70 Pounds Lost, and a Couple of Great Podcasts

I’ve now lost over 70 pounds, and have less than 35 left to get to my first goal. I’m not sure if that is my final goal, however. It is at the very top of the healthy BMI range. Depending on how I look when I get there, I would probably rather get to somewhere in the middle of the BMI range so I don’t have to worry about gaining 1 or 2 pounds and being back out of the healthy range.

I have recently found a couple of really great podcasts. They are both free on iTunes, though you do have to listen to some short ads in the podcast. They are part of the Quick and Dirty Tips series, so they are each very short, but full of good information. The first, and my favorite, is the Nutrition Diva. She is full of great, practical nutrition information. She had a recent episode, “How To Lose Weight Without Dieting”, which is a great summary of the philosophy I have had throughout my lifestyle changes. The other podcast is the Get-Fit Guy. He has great exercise advice, and one of his podcasts I listened to recently, “7 Ways to Burn Calories By Standing More”, explains why I haven’t been as good about updating this blog recently. I have been making a serious effort on making the lifestyle change of sitting a lot less. On the positive side, my house is starting to get a lot cleaner and more organized. On the negative side, I am not writing as much in my blog. I am going to try to find the time to at least sit down and update the blog more often, as it is good for my motivation, and hopefully helping others as well. In the future, I may find a way to set up a standing workstation at home.

60 Pounds!

I am now down 60 pounds from when I started, 45 more pounds to go. 45 sounds infinitely better than 105! It actually doesn’t sound hard at all, although I still fear the dreaded plateau as my goal gets closer. I’m not sure if a plateau is an inevitable thing, or if I can avoid it if I keep going the way I have been. Guess I’ll find out.

I’ve got my exercise schedule pretty well set now. I find myself going to the Y many days a week, and I’m really enjoying the group exercise classes. I never thought that was something I’d enjoy, but Zumba is so much fun with a group, and I enjoy how the body sculpting classes really push me to my limits. I don’t enjoy the weight machines as much, but I’m only doing those once per week.

When I started this journey, I was only occasionally tracking my food intake. I quickly found that it worked much better if I consistently tracked my food nearly every day–only giving myself the occasional meal off from tracking (like when I went to this fabulous British Tea last week). I introduced a friend of mine to MyFitnessPal, and he is amazed at how easy it is to lose weight once you are tracking what you are eating. I totally agree. It is only a matter of realizing how many calories are in the things you are eating, and what the proper portions are, and then the weight comes off easily. You don’t have to exercise as much as I am, I have just found myself enjoying the exercise, and how it makes me feel. You don’t have to lose weight as fast as I have been, losing any weight can help your health. I encourage anyone who is on the fence about getting healthier to just start tracking what you are eating. You might find some simple changes can make a huge difference.

50 Pounds!

Wow…today I am down 50 pounds from when I started. Almost half way there–total I want to lose is now about 105-110 pounds.  I feel so good, and super motivated still. This doesn’t feel like a big effort anymore, it just feels like a way of life. I love being active, and exercising. I really like the food I’m eating, I don’t feel like I’m suffering or depriving myself at all. I still think it may be harder with winter coming, but I am sure I will get through it.

Today, my husband worked from home and he was talking about taking a walk. So we went together for the hike I’ve been doing with my friends, and it was lovely to be out there together, and able to share being active.

I finally tried out a gym this week, I went to our local YMCA with a friend, and it was really good. We went on some of the cardio equipment, and took a strength training class. I can see how joining a gym will work into my current exercise plan. The other thing I realized is one of the parts I kind of hate about the gym are the showers, but there is no reason I can’t just get back into my car all sweaty and stinky and just drive home and shower. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. I think that is one of my biggest efforts in this, to just keep things from becoming a big deal, and therefore demotivating.

I’ve decided to put jogging on hold for a while. I was starting to feel a bit of tinges in my knee, and the worst thing would be to injure myself now and have to slow down on my activity level. I can get plenty of cardio in other ways, no need to keep jogging just to prove I can. I’ve already done that.

20 Pounds!

Today I hit the official 20 pounds lost mark! Woohoo! Still feeling really good, and motivated. I keep worrying I will lose my motivation, but no problems yet. Did my usual 65 minutes of Zumba on the Xbox this morning, and hit an endorphin high on the 2nd to last song. Found myself dancing harder and smiling while I was doing it. How cool is that?

Yummy lunch today, I sautéed some swiss chard and garlic, and added some tomato right at the end. Then fried an egg in a little olive oil and put it on top. So good, and tons of veggies. And yes, a whole egg, none of this egg white only BS. The yoke is tasty, and in moderation not bad for you. I do get eggs as part of my farm share, so I think they are higher in nutrients than grocery store eggs.

Another thing I’m trying to do is not spend so much time sitting on my butt. Just getting up to do housework, or work in my garden, is better than sitting around on Facebook for hours. And, on that note, I should probably stop blogging and go do some laundry.