Tomorrow is the big day!

It has been 2 years since I have had a gastric bypass and I have not felt better physically, mentally or emotionally than I do right now! I have maintained my current weight/weightloss within 1-3 lbs for a whole year, and continue with healthy eating, staying hydrated, exercising daily, monitoring my portions, taking my vitamins...and keeping up on bloodwork. Anyone who says Weightloss surgery is the EASY way out has NO idea!

It helps that I belong to Barix Connections, a bulletin board community of support from others that have had their surgery at a Barix Clinic. We all share our struggles and triumphs and are a tight knit group of friends, getting together when we can online and in person.

I still struggle with my food addictions and am NOT perfect, but most of the time I win over my temptations and THAT is what counts!

I know I will ALWAYS be a post op patient, and that keeps me in line with my eating and exercise, remembering where I have been, what I have gone through physically to be where I am today, and never wanting to go back.

I am still a work in progress, wanting to lose another 10-15 lbs, but I am healthy, and totally over acid reflux disease, in control of my asthma, and totally off of the c-pap machine for sleep apnea.

Thank you to my surgeon, Dr. Schram for the tool you have given me to dig my way back to health. I have lost 75 lbs since surgery, and 98 total (having lost 22 lbs before consultation.) I have gone from a size 22 to a size 6 and lost a total of 62 inches from my entire body...that is 2" more than I am tall!
I can't thank you enough. A big thank you to my family and that includes my online Barix Family. I could not be where I am today without your support and encouragement. Thank you!

Losing again!

After what seemed a 6 month hiatus from losing, I am back on track. I struggled with the same 1 or 2 pounds up and down for far too long. The hint to doing better? LOTS more fluids...I was getting dehydrated and my body was holding on to the water. I also cut out more carbs...It is so easy once you can have things like crackers and toast to gradually sneak more of them into your diet. I have learned to keep them to a bare minimum...one meal a day. Protein FIRST!

I also got away from the scale for a week, and found I am down 2.5 lbs this week, proving that even at 21 months out, I can still lose. I have had GBP friends tell me that the honeymoon period of weightloss is over at 18 months. Well, it may be true that 18 months is the period where one is most likely to lose most of his or her weight, it doesn't mean one cannot still lose AFTER that period.

I get people tell me that I am so tiny and I look great and should not lose anymore weight, but I am only 5' tall and I weigh 138 but am still in the BMI scale's overweight range. I will continue to lose another 18-20 lbs...till I hit my 90 lb loss. That is my goal for 2011 and I will reach it.

I am currently helping a member who is fresh out of WLS and am following the liquid portion with that member for a week. It has renewed my committment to myself to reach goal weight to help this person. In helping the person, I am helping myself.

Size 6!

Unbelievable! I am in a zize 6 jean, comfortably, too! Without having to lay down to zip it up! I can wear a size 6 dress, too. Here I am at the Soaring Eagle Casino, rockin' a size 6 jean with 2 members of Billy Idol's band. His drummer, Jeremy Colson on the left and one of his guitarists, Billy Morrison, on the right.

The scale is FINALLY moving!

After a 6 month stall I am finally losing weight again...3 lbs per week. I have gone from 210 to 138 in 17 months. Not record breaking speedy loss, but a healthy one. I have lost 62" from my body and I am only 60" tall. I have gone down in size from a size 22P to a size 8P. My hips were the largest loss...from 56" to 38". I would still like to lose another 2-4 inches off my hips and perhaps another 18-20 lbs. Everything about me went down in size...I went down in bra size too...from a 42DD to a 34D. Previous measurements were 42-36-56 and now they are 34-29-38! Even my shoe size dropped by a half. My rings had to be resized, and even some of my bracelets as my wrists have gotten smaller. I can actually see my collar bones and I have a neck now!

Ok...are you ready?

A size 6 sundress and small to xsmall shirts! I am still struggling with the lower half...I can wear anywhere between size 8-12 pants depending on the designer and how full cut they are through the thighs and rear. I am wishing I could afford plastic surgery for the lower half...still have those darned saddlebags that interfere with how my pants and skirts fit...just a lower body lift and I would be HAPPY! It is probably the cost of a new car! UGH!

Down in size again!

Well, I have been putting off shopping for clothes as long as possible because:
A: it gets expensive if done too much
B. even though my size 10's were getting baggy, I didn't want the disappointment of finding out that I am still stuck at a size 10 and that somehow it was all a ruse, that the size 10's in my closet ran big and somehow were really 12's...

Funny how we do that to ourselves mentally...don't really believe we have lost that much weight when we have worked so hard, so long. It is like we don't accept or believe we have gotten smaller. Sometimes I will look at myself in the mirror and say, "Wow! WHO is that?" I am so used to seeing the old person with a DD bra, size 22pants and 56" hips! Even now, my brain still thinks I wear a size 12 or 14! I guess that is because I have never been smaller than that since high school when I wore a size 9/10. I haven't been below a 9/10 since I was 12!

Well, today I am happy to report I am comfortably in a size 8! Smaller than high school....go figure! I weigh more but am smaller! That blows my mind!!

Last night, I went shopping at JCPENNEY with my hubby and everything he pulled off the sales rack was a size 8 pant and FIT! They all looked so good that I had to make a decision which things I would buy and which I would put back!

This has energized me to do more to get to goal...only 15-20 lbs to go. Next goal is to be consistent with daily exercise. I am getting in my protein goals and water intake goals...consistency with exercise is the next logical step.

The first year in summary...

Ever heard the expression, "A Picture is worth a Thousand Words?" To me, no words can really express what this photo means to me...Not even one, let alone a thousand. It has been a wild journey with many highs and lows...