7 Months Post Op - Much Needed Update!
Ok ok, so I havent been here to post in a long time! I apologize but my daughter has been sick now for a month and with the holidays around it's just been crazy!
Thanksgiving was extremely hard for me and I ended up not being able to eat much at all. I managed to get only a few bites in before I was feeling ill. I assume over time the holidays will become easier and easier to deal with but so much of our society is centered around food. It was very hard though to want all of the great food and desserts and even harder to watch other people eating, laughing, and enjoying their food. It's hard that I have to sit there while eating and think to myself to take small bites and to chew well enough that I dont really get to think about how the food tastes. I really dont get to eat food for the taste so much anymore, I eat food merely to survive! In a way, thats a great thing because I'm losing weight, but it kinda sucks because I miss just enjoying what food tastes like and not even thinking about what or how much I put in my mouth!
Since Thanksgiving I had gotten extremely depressed and was eating many things I should not have been... things like chocolate, cookies, breads and other carbs. I wasn't eating enough at once to make myself sick, but all day long I was eating enough to count as bad choices. Everyone makes mistakes and I'm by no means perfect but I was making terrible choices and I'm working hard to stop myself. Everyday this is a battle, everyday I have to think about every little thing I choose to put in my mouth... and this isnt just because I had surgery. It's something all people should be doing to take care of themselves and their health. Well, all I can do is try my best to continue down a better path, there is no way to change the past but there is plenty I can do to make my future better.
So I went last week Wednesday for my 7 Month Post-Op visit with Dr H. I officially weigh 190lbs and my BMI has gone from 45.6 - "Extremely Obese" to an amazing 28.9 making me simply "Overweight" in just 7 months. It's still something I have a hard time believing and I have to look at myself in the mirror over and over to make sure it's real. I do love it and I havent weighed this since I was in elementary school and I was no where near 5'8" then! It's nice looking so different and feeling so good but it's also weird looking in the mirror and seeing a different person from the neck down! :)
I promised a lot of people a picture of me and it's only fair that I come through! First, I'd like to share with you the picture we had taken as a family for Christmas. I just love this picture and I've really only said that about one other picture in my life. When I was 17 my best friend Sarah and I got professional pictures done together and those are the only other pictures of me I really liked. Then I will post one of me standing so you can get an idea. I need to take another picture of me to compare to my Pre-Op picture and I promise to do that very soon. It may be for my 8 Month (Jan 2nd) pic but until then, here are the other pictures.
There are two things that are very hard about this surgery, one is the loose skin I have on my neck (though minimal there), arms, stomach, thighs and butt. The other is the fact that most of the time I'm inbetween clothing sizes which makes you look funny in clothes! I mean until you get to a size you are going to stay in you're wearing clothes that forever look big and baggy on you and I dont mean in a good way! OMG I actually wore one of my t-shirts from when I was much larger, it's a size 4X, and I can NOT believe how big is it on me. I think for my next picture I'm going to put on the same shirt I have in my Pre-Op picture to see the difference of how it fits! I think it would be interesting.
I hope to find an exercise regimin that will work for me to try to tighten up some of this skin... my stomach looks like huge puckered lips and it's just weird, gross and saggy looking all over! I have some creams that I'm going to start trying on my arms and legs to see if that helps a bit to tighten the skin some too. Hopefully something works! I hate that it is winter right now because I can not go out walking with Kaitlyn so I'd like to get some light weights to start lifting at home to try to tone my arms a bit while stuck in the house. :)
I guess we'll see how it all goes over the next few months... and then in June comes the decision of expanding our little family. To Be or Not To Be pregnant again, that is the question!
Thanksgiving was extremely hard for me and I ended up not being able to eat much at all. I managed to get only a few bites in before I was feeling ill. I assume over time the holidays will become easier and easier to deal with but so much of our society is centered around food. It was very hard though to want all of the great food and desserts and even harder to watch other people eating, laughing, and enjoying their food. It's hard that I have to sit there while eating and think to myself to take small bites and to chew well enough that I dont really get to think about how the food tastes. I really dont get to eat food for the taste so much anymore, I eat food merely to survive! In a way, thats a great thing because I'm losing weight, but it kinda sucks because I miss just enjoying what food tastes like and not even thinking about what or how much I put in my mouth!
Since Thanksgiving I had gotten extremely depressed and was eating many things I should not have been... things like chocolate, cookies, breads and other carbs. I wasn't eating enough at once to make myself sick, but all day long I was eating enough to count as bad choices. Everyone makes mistakes and I'm by no means perfect but I was making terrible choices and I'm working hard to stop myself. Everyday this is a battle, everyday I have to think about every little thing I choose to put in my mouth... and this isnt just because I had surgery. It's something all people should be doing to take care of themselves and their health. Well, all I can do is try my best to continue down a better path, there is no way to change the past but there is plenty I can do to make my future better.
So I went last week Wednesday for my 7 Month Post-Op visit with Dr H. I officially weigh 190lbs and my BMI has gone from 45.6 - "Extremely Obese" to an amazing 28.9 making me simply "Overweight" in just 7 months. It's still something I have a hard time believing and I have to look at myself in the mirror over and over to make sure it's real. I do love it and I havent weighed this since I was in elementary school and I was no where near 5'8" then! It's nice looking so different and feeling so good but it's also weird looking in the mirror and seeing a different person from the neck down! :)
I promised a lot of people a picture of me and it's only fair that I come through! First, I'd like to share with you the picture we had taken as a family for Christmas. I just love this picture and I've really only said that about one other picture in my life. When I was 17 my best friend Sarah and I got professional pictures done together and those are the only other pictures of me I really liked. Then I will post one of me standing so you can get an idea. I need to take another picture of me to compare to my Pre-Op picture and I promise to do that very soon. It may be for my 8 Month (Jan 2nd) pic but until then, here are the other pictures.
There are two things that are very hard about this surgery, one is the loose skin I have on my neck (though minimal there), arms, stomach, thighs and butt. The other is the fact that most of the time I'm inbetween clothing sizes which makes you look funny in clothes! I mean until you get to a size you are going to stay in you're wearing clothes that forever look big and baggy on you and I dont mean in a good way! OMG I actually wore one of my t-shirts from when I was much larger, it's a size 4X, and I can NOT believe how big is it on me. I think for my next picture I'm going to put on the same shirt I have in my Pre-Op picture to see the difference of how it fits! I think it would be interesting.
I hope to find an exercise regimin that will work for me to try to tighten up some of this skin... my stomach looks like huge puckered lips and it's just weird, gross and saggy looking all over! I have some creams that I'm going to start trying on my arms and legs to see if that helps a bit to tighten the skin some too. Hopefully something works! I hate that it is winter right now because I can not go out walking with Kaitlyn so I'd like to get some light weights to start lifting at home to try to tone my arms a bit while stuck in the house. :)
I guess we'll see how it all goes over the next few months... and then in June comes the decision of expanding our little family. To Be or Not To Be pregnant again, that is the question!