So, I've been the WORST blog host ever!  I let life get in the way of my posts and I decided that it's time to get back on my horse, so to speak.

To update the two of you who still follow me, I've moved back to my hometown and my business is in the process of reinvention. I haven't regained much weight (about 20 pounds), but I don't want to start down that slippery slope, especially as I never made it to my goal weight.

However, changes are happening here and I have committed to my diet and exercise plan all over again and dropped 17 pounds with very little effort. Gee, this is supposed to be hard, right? It is and it isn't... and that's the thing no one ever tells you.

WLS (weight loss surgery) gives you a tool that is good forever. But that tool is only as good as how you use the tool. If I give you a power saw and you try to cut wood without plugging it in, then it's going to be really hard to cut the wood. That's where I'm at right now. I'm working hard to plug my power saw in and use it properly. Of course, in my case, the power saw is my sleeve.

I have been really bad about not drinking my water and about allowing carbs back into my diet. As of about a week ago, I have started meeting my water goal again and simple carbs are out!

Updates as of 9.33 months post op

Sorry for the inspired title, but this is a housekeeping post, mostly! :)

First, I reached my first major goal on May 18, 2012. I'm now in the Century Club, which means I've lost 100 pounds!!!  I've been happy dancing over that for a couple of weeks.

Second, I am now an elliptical convert! I started out trying to use the elliptical about a month ago. My first session lasted all of one and a half minutes. I'm now up to using the elliptical for 30-60 minutes daily and I'm in love with it. I even prefer it over my beloved recumbent bike!

Third, I'm down to a sixteen/eighteen in pants and shirts, although jeans, being less forgiving, still require a 20 for me. :)

Here's an updated picture of me:

I took this one on June 2, 2012.

I still can't believe how fast the weight is coming off me! :)

I posted this picture on Vertical Sleeve Talk a couple of days ago. Here it is for anyone who doesn't haunt that board like I do.  The picture generated some questions from new sleevers there, and one of those questions was what should she be doing now that she's sleeved. So, I put out a list of things I think are important for a new WLS patient to know and I'm repeating it, with a couple of additions here.

Here's what I'd advise to anyone just starting this journey:

1. Take your measurements pre-op. Keep track of them as you lose weight. When you stall/plateau, and we all do it, take your measurements again. Stalls are when I seem to lose sizes and notice the inches going away.
2. Stick to your post-op diet religiously. Your doctor has prescribed this diet because s/he feels that it's the safest diet to avoid complications with your new sleeve (pouch, etc).
3. Start walking as soon as possible after surgery. Always try to do a little more than you did yesterday.
4. The minute you're released to lift weights, start lifting weights. I do a lot of low weight, high repetition work and I started out doing 10 reps of the simplest arm exercises I could find. Biceps curls, triceps extensions, skull crusher.
5. Be patient. You didn't gain all this weight in a hurry, so you won't lose it in a hurry. It will still seem incredibly fast when you get to goal.
6. Visit a therapist to help you learn how to deal with the life changes from VSG. We wouldn't be here if we didn't have food issues.
7. Drink your 64 oz of water daily. Get in your protein daily. Repeat and repeat.
8. Join My Fitness Pal or one of the other food logger sites. It's tremendously motivating.
9. Look for the Non Scale Victories (NSV) every single day. It will help you stay positive about your journey and will give you motivation when yours is flagging.
10. Stolen straight from my friend on VST, FavoredOne... ENJOY THE JOURNEY. This isn't a race. You don't get extra points for not eating properly or for being the fastest/slowest/most average loser.
11. Make sure you take your pain meds immediately post-op if you need them. There are no awards for not taking the pain meds...just more pain.
12. Don't compare your weight loss to someone else's weight loss. Many things affect how fast we lose weight, including our genetics, metabolism, how much water and exercise we're getting in, and the mysterious "whatever".  Those with higher BMIs tend to lose faster immediately post-op, but then slow down to a crawl for awhile. It happens.
13. Do NOT become a slave to the scale. All it tells you is how much you weigh. It doesn't tell you if you're eating or drinking enough. It doesn't tell you that you've put on 4 pounds of muscle weight while losing 3 pounds of fat. The scale is a dangerous mistress. Take away it's power over you.

Above all, if you think something is wrong, call YOUR doctor. Don't wait for someone on a message board or a blog to tell you what to do. You (or your insurance company) paid this doctor for his or her expertise. Let the doctor tell you what's a problem and what isn't a problem.

Good luck if you're a new post-op, or even if you're pre-op and just starting this journey. There's nothing like it in the world.

The photo above was taken in September, 2009 at a friend's wedding. The photo below is two weeks ago. I think there are some marked differences.

I took myself out to lunch today and ordered a bunless cheeseburger with sweet potato fries. I actually ate about half the cheeseburger, the slices of tomato, some pickle slices, and 3 of the fries. The cook came out and I ended up telling him that the food was delicious, but I just couldn't eat any more. I was so full, but that cheeseburger was SO good.

The point of that is that you can have ANY food you want after surgery. You just won't be able to eat as much. I'm pleasantly full and not in carb overload from my meal. I'm just now finishing my unsweet iced tea and it tastes divine as well.

93 pounds lost feels really good today, especially knowing that I can eat anything I want.

Oh, and for my appetizer and dessert, I had 7 flights of stairs on either side of my meal. Being able to walk up and down those stairs without pain is a MAJOR incentive for me!

My Exercise Journey So Far

Exercise is a BIG issue for those who have had WLS. Non-WLS people don't seem to understand that we do have to exercise to get to our goals. I hate the comment about us taking "the easy way out". There's nothing easy about this. It seems like some WLS patients don't get it either. They really believe that this is a magic bullet that's going to make us lose weight with no effort on our part. That's not true.

When I first had WLS, I couldn't walk from my car to my front door without being winded. When I started researching WLS, I saw people who were crazy about exercise and I thought they were nuts. But, now I get it.

As I've progressed with my weight loss, I've also progressed with exercise. At first, I was literally walking up and down my hallway, then around the small end of my building, then the larger end of my building. At 3 weeks post-op, I was THRILLED when I managed to walk around the lake in my apartment complex. Wow, that seems like it was so long ago.

Over the last few months, I've added in more walking on the treadmill and then lots of time on the recumbent bike. Last week, I walked home from the gym and found that I can't walk as far on real ground as I can on the treadmill, but that's okay. My attitude now is that it WILL get easier as I continue to walk, so I'm making it a point to walk to and from the gym when I go to work out. That adds an extra 1.5 miles a day to my exercise totals.

I also started a weight routine right after surgery. At first, I did well to get in 10 repetitions with 2 pound weights. Now, the 2 pound weights have been moved to the car and I use them to get in some arm work while I'm driving long distances daily. I'm now using 5 pound weights for my "regular" weight routine and 8 pound weights when I'm doing abdominal crunches.

My workout routine is definitely low-intensity compared to some of the exercise gurus I see on the boards, but it's working for me. Nope, I'm not Bo Derek yet, but I'm seeing results. I have biceps; I have a waist...and my butt is looking pretty good, or so I'm told by some guys I know. I'm not training for a marathon. What I'm doing is incorporating exercise into my life, hopefully in a manner that I can follow for the rest of my life.

So, like the turtle, I'm taking it slow, but I will get to goal! :)

Sunday update

I guess I should update a few things around here.  I'm now at 261, and a size 16/18, depending on cut of the clothes. While my weight loss has slowed, I've been increasing my workouts and I'm now up to walking 1.5 miles (to/from gym) plus at least 30 minutes on the recumbent bike while at the gym. I have two goals on exercise: sweat profusely and get in at least 7 miles on the bike.

I'm seeing results, both in my clothes size and in my body. When I first started on the bike at this gym, my butt and hips rubbed my hands when I grabbed the side bars. Now I have at least 2 inches on each side between my hips and my hands. NSV for sure!

I have less restriction than before, although I still can't eat a lot at one sitting. I've recently been adding in more carbs and veggies because the carbs seem to help keep my endurance up for the workouts I've been doing. I'm still doing weights as well. I carry a 2 pound weight in the car and do my arm exercises while I'm driving long stretches. When I'm home, I use 5 pound weights for those arm exercises. I'm seeing results in my arm muscles from that as well.

The last couple of weeks have seen me add more protein replacements into my diet in order to meet my protein goals. I bought some GNC Total Lean protein shakes yesterday...meh. I'll drink them because they aren't horrible, but they aren't great either. OTOH, Clif bars are YUMMY! They have 15 grams of protein each and taste good, although the bars are kind of ugly looking.

Stir-fry has been my go to food lately. Lots of shrimp and steak stir-fried with veggies. I bought a couple of different sauces to try in them and the philly cream cheese sauces are okay. I haven't tried the two chinese sauces I got, although that's on the agenda for this week.

For some reason, my visit with my surgeon last week has really upped my confidence level about my weight loss. I feel like goal is really achievable now. I'm so close to 100 pounds lost that I can almost taste it. I'm anticipating the happy dance for it already!! :)