Five Month Progress Pictures

As promised many, many days ago, here are some new progress pictures and stats.

I'm up to 88 pounds down; the weight loss has slowed considerably but that is normal. I am stepping up my workouts for the new year; I am going to up the number of times a week I complete the weight circuit to at least 3 and I'm going to try to start doing cardio in the mornings. I stress the word try; I am not a morning gal but I am going to give it my best college try.

Here are the pics. The one on the left is from July, and the one on the right from just a couple of days ago. I am currently wearing sized 16 jeans, XXL-XL tops depending and XL dresses. I really do see the changes, especially now that I'm staring at these pictures. I feel...blessedly normal for the first time in a long time.

Four Month Progress, Apologies, and Updates

Hey Everyone, if there is anyone still out there!

I am back at the blog, after six crazy weeks. I suppose I've been so busy living life that I haven't had a lot of time to write about it. My apologies; I will try to keep everyone updated in a more timely fashion.

Let's start with the good stuff: stats. As of today, I am 85 pounds down. Here are some things that weigh 85 pounds:

Keira Knightly

A mature female timberwolf

A pit bull

The suits bomb experts wear when they defuse bombs

A cubic foot of the Sun

A dwarf goat

Imagine trying to get through a workday, a workout, or a just a typical Saturday with any of the above strapped to your ass. 85 pounds. CRAZY. I'm still wrapping my head around everything but it's a good wrapping around.

I do have pictures, but they are on my computer at work. As soon as I get them off, I will get them posted. I have definitely started to notice a big difference in how I look, especially from the back. I seem to have lost my ass somewhere; it was there my whole life but now it appears to have vacated the premises. I'm not complaining, other than buying pants is a bit difficult.

While my ass has left, a new body part has made its first appearance in quite some time: my clavicle has shown up again. I really noticed it about a month ago; I looked in the mirror in my car to check my lipstick, and there it was, just jutting out as plain as day. Welcome back, clavicle!

Other body-related observations

* I ran into a woman I know who is completely blind, and who I haven't seen since before the surgery. She gave me a hug, and said, "Wow, you've lost a lot of weight!" I even feel thinner.

* The blood pressure cuff that didn't fit on my forearm six months ago now fits perfectly. Same for the velcro pouch I use to hold my iPod at the gym.

* I'm cold ALL THE TIME. I used to sweat like a sinner in church; now, I have to wear a jacket in my chilly apartment or else I actually shiver.

* I can cross my legs at a restaurant booth. I used to have trouble sliding in behind the table.

* My boobs are a lot smaller; I've gone down from a 48DD to a 42D.

* I'm sleeping much better, and I feel a lot more rested. After a recent visit to my parents, where I slept on the couch, my dad reported that I am no longer snoring.

* This may be TMI for the random guy who follows this blog, but I got my first menstrual cycle last month since March. Then, on Sunday, for the first time since college, I had my cycle two months in a row. This is a really big deal for me; my menstrual periods have been wackadoo since I was in high school so I am very relieved that they appear to be regulating. Now, that being said, the cramps, bloating, headaches and moodiness have SUCKED. I'm seeing my gynecologist tomorrow; she's been very supportive of the surgery, and wanted me to follow up with her sometime after my third month post-op.

* In the last month, I have experienced quite a bit of thinning of my hair. Especially when I wash it, or style it, I am shedding handfuls. I knew this was a possibility, and according to my doctors and other people who have had the procedure, it is completely normal and should turn around within a couple of months. I'm not too worried; I've got a pretty good head of hair to start with, and I added a new supplement to my regimen; horsetail root. I am also going to buy some special, tea-tree oil shampoo on the advice of a friend who is a stylist.

* My feet don't hurt any more! I can wear heels, reasonable ones, all day at work and my feet/ankles/legs aren't in agony. I know this has everything to do with the weight loss; there is so much less pressure on my tootsies. I even bought a couple of pairs of new shoes, including a truly awesome pair of peep-toe heels that look awesome with jeans.

Shopping and other news

So, I like shopping now. A LOT. It is such a rush for me to be able to walk into any store, and know that there are options for me there. Old Navy, Kohl's, Target, even the GAP! I bought clothes at the GAP! Me! I really have to control myself; before, finding stylish, flattering clothes was a huge challenge so when I did by chance stumble on something that worked, I snatched up one in every color. Now, I have to consciously tell myself that just because it fits and flatters, I don't HAVE to buy it. Most of the time, this strategy works. The other great thing I've learned is that so-called "normal" stores clearance racks are chock-full of my sizes! Usually, at plus-sized stores, all of my sizes are long gone by the time the clothes make it to the clearance rack. At Gap and Old Navy, my sizes abound! While on vacation, I found several dresses for less than the cost of lunch, a skirt for less than a coffee at Starbucks and a kick ass pair of jeans that were cheap enough to rationalize getting them tailored. As soon as I can get someone to take some fashion show pictures, I'll post them.

Well, for now, that's all I've got time to post. There is a LOT more going on; what I'm eating, how my workouts are going, getting through the holidays, and (eeek) getting back into the sitcom that is dating. But for now, I'll leave you with this image. I like this picture of me...I like being able to say that I like any picture of me. Hee!

Happy Fall, ya'll!

Let me say this: I LOVE FALL! It is, to coin a phrase, my signature season. The crisp snap of fresh picked apples, the crunch of leaves under the heel of my boots, snuggling under a thick quilt, big piles of pumpkins and gourds...I love it all.

This weekend was the epitome of autumnal glory. I started Saturday off with a trip to the gym where I not only walked my usual mile before doing the weight circuit, but I RAN half of it! Now, that might not sound like a big deal; after all, it was just a half mile. But for me, it was a really big deal. Not only did I run, but I ran out in public. With other people watching and everything. And guess what? No one stared or laughed or pointed. Truth be told, no one probably would have done any of those things 65 pounds ago, but in my head, I just felt too ridiculous running then.

After the gym, I headed down to the City market. This is the first week I've not gotten a CSA delivery so I needed to pick up a couple of veggies. I also wanted to try my hand at making my own hummus and there's a great Middle Eastern grocery in the market. I've been eating a lot of hummus post op; it's a great low-fat alternative to mayo and from what I've read, really easy and cheap to make. So, I picked up some chickpeas, tahini (ground sesame paste), and some roasted soy nuts to snack on. I also got some green and red bell peppers, a cucumber, squash and mushrooms. Instead of serving the hummus with dense pita bread, I've been eating it with raw veggies.

While at the market, I had some lunch at the same Middle Eastern market; they have a small deli attached to the store. I had the 'guts' of a chicken gyro and a little bit of hummus; it was delicously curried and spiced. And, just the right amount of food.

After the market, I headed home and did one of my favorite fall activities; a cat nap in my comfy chair with my comfy cat. After that, I whipped up my first batch of homemade hummus and it was delicious!!! And super cheap! For the same price as a container of store-bought hummus, I can make three to four batches of home-made. I took it to a friend's for brunch this morning, and everyone really liked it.

Then, I joined some friends for another favorite fall pastime; a yard party with yummy wine and lotsa laughs. I wore my new, NEW Old Navy jeans; I've gone down another size and they are the smallest size jeans I've worn since freaking high school!!!! It was so crazy walking into the house to catcalls from my friends...

Today, church with pals, followed by brunch (small piece of quiche, some yummy hummus) and then a Chiefs party with some other friends (half a chicken breast and four fritos). Leftover chili for dinner, followed by another favorite pasttime: crafts!

So, all in all, a lovely, delightful fall weekend. Life is good, my friends, life is good.

Three Month Progress Photos

First of all, I can't believe how quickly three months has flown by! It feels like just yesterday I was starting this blog, and now here I am, three months out. Crazy.

Here are the three month progress pics. First one is the day I started liquids, then a month apart thereafter.

In other, non-scale related victories, I flew this weekend for the first time since surgery and it was quite pleasant. Lots of room on the old seatbelt, comfortably fit in the seat, could put the traytable down and cross my legs.

Also, I spent my first weekend in St. Louis post-surgery. It was a very short visit; got in Saturday afternoon and left very early Sunday morning. Usually, going "home" meant sliders from White Castle, pasta from the Hill, eggs Benedict at the Coffee Garden by my parents' house. This time, my visit home was about visiting home; I went to my nephew's first swim meet, did some shopping (of course), and I even managed to squeeze in some exercise. All in all, a lovely 36 hours in the Lou.

One note on the shopping; for the very first time in a very long time, I had a great time shopping! I needed to get a dress for a couple of events I have coming up; a wedding and a work event. I've always dreaded shopping for a specific occasion; I know what I want but rarely am I able to find it. This time, I found exactly what I wanted within five minutes of walking into the store. It fit, it's adorable and I love it. I'll make sure to post some pictures after the wedding this weekend. I also managed to find a couple of other things that will be great "transitional" pieces; sweaters, leggings, and some blouses. Oh, and an awesome pair of shoes... :)

Two Month Post Op Visit-Numbers, Numbers, and More Numbers

Today, I had my two month post-surgery office visit to Dr. Hoehn's office. One of the things I liked about the program at the Kansas City Bariatric Center when I compared it to other programs was their level of post-operative follow up care. For the first year, I'll have five post-op visits, including blood and lab work. Some of the other programs that I researched didn't have near that level of follow up, and since this is a relatively new procedure in the bariatric field, I thought it was important to have a doctor who wasn't going to forget who I was as soon as my check cleared.

I got to my appointment about 3:20, and was taken back about 3:40. First thing, I hopped on the scale. It's positively bizarre for me to be excited about getting on a scale, but there I was, on a scale, with a big smile on my face. As of today, I have lost a total of 63 pounds since July 7. That's 30 pounds just since my last doctor's appointment two months ago.

Next, one of the nurses took my blood pressure; 116/76. Perfect. Then, Dr. Hoehn's Physician's Assistant Tim came in to talk to me about my labs and how I was doing. My labs looked fantastic; my cholesterol is 139 which is down substantially from my pre-op numbers. Blood glucose, protein, calcium, B complex, everything looked great. We talked briefly about how I was feeling, and how important it was to get the vitamins in every day. He wants to see me again in four months, and that was it.

It occured to me as I drove home that there are a lot of numbers that define what we see as "good" and "bad". Numbers on a scale, a blood pressure cuff, a lab report; all of these numbers used to be pretty scary to me. I remember the first time I got lab results back, and my doctor had "concerns" about my numbers. I remember thinking, "This is the beginning of the rest of my life; bad numbers and concerned doctors."

I'm really glad I was wrong. :)

Who is this Girl??

I realized that I forgot to post my weight loss for the last week. As of today, I have lost 60 pounds. 60 pounds. I cannot even wrap my head around that number.

When I hit 50 pounds down a month or so ago, I began thinking about a way to commemorate the milestone. In the past, I celebrated accomplishments with food so I thought about a non-food celebration for a long time.

Some of the other bloggers I read have gone on trips, bought new clothes, learned to salsas dance or even gone sky-diving. All of those are great, but they just don't feel like me. So, I went with something a little more personal. And a LOT more permanent.

Yep, I got a tattoo. It says Strength, and its the first of three words that will eventually make a circle. I will get the other two words when I hit the second and third 50. I LOVE IT! I found a wonderful tattoo artist named Alli at Irezumi Tattoos here in Kansas City, and she did an amazing job. It didn't hurt nearly as much I had anticipated; the first 20 seconds or so were rough but then it was just annoying.

So, I've got ink. Hee.

Catching Up

It's been a week since I last posted, and I've got a lot to report!

Things are going pretty well. I'm still losing but it's slowed down to a more sustainable pace. I feel my energy level going up every day, and I've become pretty comfortable with food choices.

What I'm Eating:

I've definitely developed a routine in terms of daily eats.

Breakfast: high fiber oatmeal or an egg scrambled with a piece of turkey. I eat about 1/3 of the oatmeal and all of the egg.

Lunch: two ounces of turkey, a piece of babybel cheese and a slice of tomato. Or, sometimes I have a small amount of tuna or chicken salad.

Snack: Muscle Milk Lite for protein.

Dinner: Salmon or boca burger, or a piece of fish, or a scrambled egg.

Snack: two cucumber rounds with roasted red pepper hummus.

I have been eating out more but still manage to make pretty good choices. Half of a half of a turkey sandwich, or an egg white omelette usually does the trick.

What I'm Doing:

I have been shaking it up a bit exercise-wise. Still walking, and I must say, I'm kicking ass. I can do a lap in about a minutes, so thats about 20 minutes for 2 miles. Then, on cardio days, I do the eliptical for 10 minutes or a mile, whichever comes first.

Yesterday, I did the weight circuit for the first time. It took me forever to get through it because I wrote down the settings and weights for all of the machines. Hopefully, it will go a bit quicker next time. I am definitely feeling the workoout today; my ass is sore, and my arms are killing me. I realized that I have the upper body strength of a baby duck. So, I'm starting slow, just about 30 pounds on each machine. Hopefully, it will get easier.

What I'm Wearing:

The clothing situation is starting to get interesting. Things are definitely looser; I was walking into work the other day with my hands full, and almost lost my pants. Same thing almost happened at the gym. Stretchy skirts and dresses work well; they're big, but they still look okay.

Now for the good part. I had a flip flop blowout this weekend so I went by Old Navy to get a new pair. As usual, I walked in and headed straight for the flip flop wall, not pausing to look at any clothes. Now, this is where my friends and followers who haven't had weight issues might get a bit confused. Old Navy didn't carry my size, so I never really bought clothes there. Sure, a men's sized sweatshirt here or a men's sized teeshirt there, but I didn't even look in the women's section.

After I got my flip flops, I started to head to the registers when a pair of jeans caught my eye; they were dark blue, and super cute. Suddenly, I heard my mom's voice in my head, "Jennifer, you need to buy some new pants! Just go try some on; you're smaller than you think." See, I've hesitated to try anything new since I started losing. I just didn't want to be disappointed.

This time, though, I grabbed a pair of jeans in the biggest size they carry, and marched purposefully to the fitting room. I charged into a room. I threw the jeans down, took off my cargo pants, and shoved my feet in to the new jeans, all in about three seconds. I slid them over my thighs; hmm, they weren't tight. Over the hips; whoa, they went right up. No jumping or squeezing or wiggling. Then, miracles of miracles, I zipped and buttoned them right up. BUTTONED THEM RIGHT UP. I stared at myself in the mirror, and then the biggest, brightest, happiest smile I've had on my face in a very long time spread across my cheeks. I had on a pair of jeans from a normal store. A pair of jeans without a W on the tag. Normal jeans. It was then that I realized that THEY WERE TOO BIG. Not only was in a normal pair of jeans, but I was in a normal pair of jeans that WERE TOO FREAKING BIG!!!

So, it was at this point that I went into a semi-delirious state or ecstacy. I got a cart (A CART) and just starting throwing stuff in it and taking it to the fitting room. I started with another pair of jeans in a size smaller; they fit! Then I thought, maybe its a fluke, just these particular jeans. So I grabbed one pair in all six styles, and they all fit! It all fit! Sweaters, tshirts, coats, skirts, khakis all fit! I went crazy; there were tshirts and fleece jackets and jammy pants aflyin'!

Don't worry; I came out of my fugue before I got the charge card out. I put everything back, except the jeans. Of course, those went home with me. I need to get them altered; they're too long. And when I do, I am going to rock those jeans bigger and badder than Springsteen on the cover of Born in the USA.

Three Month Progress Pictures

Yesterday, I took a set of three month progress pictures. I cannot BELIEVE how quickly the time has flown by!

Again, I don't see that much of a difference, but that's okay. My psychologist says that's completely normal; a lot of people report that they don't see much of a difference until one day, they look in the mirror and are amazed at what they see. He calls it turning a corner. He also suggested laying off the pictures and the mirrors, and concentrating more on how I'm feeling as opposed to how I'm looking.

Anyway, here you go. The first pictures are from the day I began the pre-op liquid diet, the second from a month ago, and the third from yesterday.

Adventures in Dining Out

So as more time goes by, I find myself eating out in restaurants more and more; pre-surgery, I was really worried about missing out on celebrations, get togethers and such. However, just like everthing else, I've done my research, read a lot of other people's experiences, and I've been able to adapt pretty well.

For examples, this morning after church with friends, we headed to a lovely little bistro for brunch, Cafe Europa. Now, in the past, "brunch" has meant a two hour baccanalia buffet with everything from biscuits and gravy to fried chicken. Oh, and bloody marys.

Today, I ordered a spinach and goat cheese frittata, made with egg whites, and got some fruit instead of potatoes. It was delicious, and full of protein, and very satisfying. And, I took more than half home for dinner. Best of all, the meal wasn't about the food; it was about three friends, sitting around a table and enjoying each others' company.

Here's what was left over:

Now, it hasn't all been puppies and rainbows in terms of navigating restaurants. Here are a few things I've noticed:

1. Waiters FREAK OUT if you don't want anything to drink. Usually, they will still fill my water glass when I'm not looking. Drinking with meals tends to fill up the pouch with water, so there's not enough room for protein foods so we're encouraged not to drink anything 30 minutes before, during or after a meal. Today at brunch, the waitress got all discombobulated when I asked the hostess to take my water glass when she seated us.

2. Pretty much without fail, every waiter or waitress has asked me a least once during ameal if there was anything wrong with my food. When you only consume about a third of your food, people assume you don't like it, no matter HOW MUCH YOU TELL THAT YOU DO. At a Japanese restaurant last week, after the waitress asked me three times if my chicken teriyaki was okay and I told her it was delicious but I was full, she went back into the kitchen and brought out the chef to aske me what the problem was. I think that they got a little pissed at me.

3. If you forget your boxed up leftovers on the table, as I frequently do, the waitresses will chase you to the car with it. Especially after you've told them repeatedly that the food was delicious.

4. Eggs don't reheat well.

That's about it for now. I'm sure I'll have plenty of other observations along the way.

Oh, and just for fun, here's a picture from Friday night at First Fridays in the Crossroads. It's a great art crawl that happens every first Friday of the month in the gallery district here. A group of us met for a cocktail (or a water, in my case) at Hamburger Mary's; unfortunately, one drink turned into a lot of drinks and we didn't make it out to see any art. But, we did have a GREAT time. http://www.crossroadskc.com/

Six Week Update

Yesterday was my six week surgiversary. As of today, I am 54 pounds down. To give you perspective, here are some things that weigh around 54 pounds:

1. A 4 year old dalmation
2. A second grader
3. Three full bags of groceries
4. 1 and a half sets of golf clubs
5. A bushel AND a peck of apples
6. Two Trek 33 mountain bikes

Imagine any one of those things strapped to your ass. In addition to playing hell finding a good fitting pair of pants, life in general would be pretty sucky.

I started working out in earnest last week; I was finally released for exercise more strenuous than walking. I've been power walking two miles a day; I can do two miles in about 20 minutes. I just starting doing a mile on the eliptical on Monday. So, I think that has contributed greatly to the bump this week. It is incredible how much easier exercise is with 54 pounds off.

BTW, I really love the gym I joined; Matt Ross Community Center. It's super affordable, close to home, never overly crowded and everyone is very normal. No roided out gym weirdos, or Workout Barbie wannabes: just normal folks, getting their workout on. Like me. :)

What I'm Eating-Five Weeks Out

Several people have asked me lately what I'm eating these days; I think a lot of them are still trying to figure out if it's okay to ask me out to lunch or eat in front of me (it is :)). So, here in no particular order, are a few meals as of late.

Breakfasts:

Egg Bites! These are my new favorite things. I made them the first time for a brunch; they are super easy, and protein based and freeze well. They are basically crustless quiche that you make in mini muffin tins for portion control. I found the recipe on another blog written by a fellow "sleever". Here's the link:http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/

Lunch

I usually eat lunch at my desk, but I have gone out a few times in the past few weeks. The first time, I had some grilled salmon and a tiny bit of sauteed spinach. All of the other times, I had half of a half of a turkey sandwich minus the sandwich part.

At work, its usually 2 ounces of turkey or chicken, or a 1/4 cup of tuna or chicken salad. Sometimes, I'll have a few bites of greek yogurt or a half of a piece of string cheese. Just this week, I add in a tomato slice. Technically, I'm not supposed to have raw veggies for another couple of months but I remove the seeds and skin, so its actually going down very well. Here's lunch on a typical day:

Chicken salad, babybel light cheese, tomato. I ate all of the chicken salad, one piece of tomato and saved the cheese for later.

Dinner

Since most of the other foods I eat are cold, I try to have something hot and fresh for dinner. I'm a BIG fan of the George Foreman grill; I can take a piece of fish or chicken out of the freezer, pop it on the grill, and I have dinner in six minutes. I am also a big fan of spice blends; I use Cavendar's Greek seasoning, Adobo seasoning, Old Bay, Spike and several others to season my fish or chicken. I also bought a couple of new ones at Penzey's, a spice store by my apartment.

My other new favorite things: salmon and chicken burgers from Whole Foods. I figure since I'm spending less than half of what I used to on food, I can splurge on some Whole Paycheck Foods now and then. They have a big variety of flavors; the spinach and feta is my favorite. Very protein friends, and really flavorful! I have half for dinner, and the other half for lunch or dinner the next day.

So, that's about the long and short of it. I'm still supplementing with protein shakes; I finally settled on the Muscle Milk light and got a pretty good deal on a case of them at Sam's Club. I've tried the powder in the blender; still can't do it. It's just...gross.

Clean Car Day

Tomorrow, my friends and I are going to a baseball game, and because I'm "on the wagon", I offered to drive. Of course, that meant I would have to clean out my car.

As many of my close friends, and anyone who has ever parked next to me, know

(not my car; dramatic re-creation. for the most part)

I am a bit of a car slob. Now, I'm not like those people that have six years of newspapers and phone books stuffed into their 86 Honda; I just spend a lot of time in my car, and I am terrible about throwing things

like newspapers, water bottles, bags, and magazines out.

Now, in the past, cleaning out my car was one of those tasks I absolutely despised and totally procrastinated, thereby making the situation even worse. I can't tell you the number of times I've had to dash out to the parking lot to shove stuff under the seats so I could drive my co-workers to lunch.

So, tonight as I started reaching under seats and into the glove box, I was surprised. Where was all the crap? Had car elves been hard at work while I slept, sweeping up fossilized french fries and old Quik-Trip cups? Was I cleaning out the right Pontiac? After all, there are a LOT of silver Pontiac Vibes on the road. Where were the McDonald's bags, the thousands of napkins, the millions of empty cigarette boxes? WHOSE CAR WAS THIS??? AND WHY WAS I CLEANING IT???

Then I realized: it was my car. Yeah, there were a few old NY Times, several empty water bottles and a couple of popsicle sticks. It occured to me then just how much my life has changed in the past five weeks. No more McDonalds on my way into work in the morning; therefore, no McDonald's bags. No more 44 ounce Diet Cokes; therefore, no 44 ounce Quik-Trip cups. No more lighting up a smoke every time I got into the car; therefore, no more Marlboro boxes or ashes to vacuum up.

I got the car cleaned out in about five minutes, and then went for a walk. I guess Clean Car Day isn't so much a big deal anymore. Hee.

(again, not my ride. yet.)

Four Week Update

So sorry it's been so long since I've posted; I've been kinda swamped both at work and at home.

Wednesday was my four week surgiversary. I'm down 47 pounds. I really don't know what to say about that other than YAHOOOOOO!!

Okay, now that I got that out of my system, on to other things.

Like I said, its been a busy week. Work is ramping up; big event in November and it's starting to cook. I've also had a busy week at home. I started the week off by visiting a new church attended by a volunteer of mine at work. It was a great service, and I think I will be returning for another. It's a very liberal, open community and they have a ton of activities and classes like yoga and intergenerational hip hop (for reals). Here's a link if you want some more information: http://stpaulslenexa.org/

After church, I had some friends over for lunch. One of the biggest worries I had going into this surgery was that I wouldn't be able to entertain anymore. I think that one of the best sounds in the world is the sound of good friends around the table, enjoying a meal and each other's company. I love not many things more than making a meal, putting on some good music and setting the table for six or more.

Usually, the menu would involve some kind of comfort food; chicken and noodles, chili with all the fixins, pecan praline french toast casserole (for real; it's like sex in a baking dish. but with more butter). This time, I knew that I would have to change up the game a bit. So, I turned to a couple of the blogs written by other post-surgical folks and came up with a great menu. Crustless mini quiches, courtesy of http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2009/10/party-time-confetti-bites.html.

I also cooked up some turkey sausage links, put out a big plate of bagels and pound cake for my carb lovin crew and for the piece de resistance: homemade blueberry cobbler, made with blueberries grown and picked by an organic farmer. My plate had three quiches, and one sausage; I ate two of the quiches and most of the sausage and was full. A little later, I had a tiny bite of blueberries; it was divine and just enough of a taste to satisfy.

All in all, I was very proud of myself. I realized that I can still do the things I loved to do, with a few small changes. So, here's to many, many more meals shared by friends around a table, laughing and passing plates.

Three Weeks-Getting my Groove Back

So, today I'm three weeks post-surgery. I'm feeling pretty great, actually. I've adjusted well to the "mushy" food stage, am doing a pretty good job most days of getting my fluids in and I feel like my activity level is increasing. I joined a gym near my house, and have walked the track a couple of times because it is so sweltering hot outside right now. I'm actually looking forward to being released to do other kinds of exercise because I get bored with walking pretty quickly.

So here is what I've learned at three weeks:

* My body gives me a signal that I'm full, even if my head hasn't caught on yet. It's called a "soft stop" and mine is a hiccup. Most people have these, but don't know to listen for them.

* It's very easy to overeat if I don't pay attention. I've paid a lot more attention to eating my meals at the dining room table instead of on the couch with the television or a book.

* Too much cheese can cause certain bodily functions to slooooow down, if you get my drift.

* Milk of Magnesia is really gross and should be only administered when you've got about four hours in the house alone.

* Canned chicken tastes just like canned tuna.

* Greek yogurt is awesome and full of protein. Bye-bye Yoplait.

http://www.ochef.com/257.htm

* It is possible to go out to a bar on a Saturday night and have a good time with getting a cocktail. Who knew??

1 Month Pictures

Well, it's been a month since I started the liquid diet so I decided to take a new set of pictures to compare. It's funny; no one has really commented on my appearance at all, until today. Six people have come up to me and asked me how much I've lost! I guess these are good jeans.

The pictures on the left are me a month ago, and the pictures on the right are me today. Honestly, and don't get all "love yourself" on me in the comments, I don't see much difference. But that's okay; I know I will soon!

Two Week Update

Yesterday was my two week "surgiversary". I hopped on the scale today; another five pounds down for a total of 38 pounds in a month. That's like four bowling balls. Off my ass. Hee.

Things are going well, for the most part. Here's what I've learned two weeks post-op

1. Vitamins are very important; I definitely have noticed a big difference in energy levels on the days I've forgotten.

2. Hormonal changes and mood swings can be pretty vicious, and it's best to just be alone when I feel them coming on.

3. Hormonal changes cause very vivid, very strange dreams.

4. A person can save a LOT of $$ eating only three small meals a day.

5. Starbucks gives iced water for free.

6. Decaf iced tea is much better with lemons.

7. 105 degree weather is a lot easier to handle 38 pounds lighter.

8. My mom is the coolest, bravest, kindest and giving person I've ever met. (Well, I kinda already knew that one but I got several reminders of it in the past two weeks.)

Tonight, I'm going to try adding unflavored protein powder to some yogurt for dinner, and see how that works.

A Lovely Weekend

What a difference a couple of days makes!

This was my first weekend post-op on my own. I started it off by treating myself to a couple of goodies from Whole Foods. Now, in the past, this would have meant a lemon sugar cookie or a piece of wood-fired pizza. What's the harm, it's organic, right? This trip, I went with something a little more botanical and a LOT longer-lasting.

I felt pretty great when I woke up on Saturday, so I got up early and headed out to run Saturday errands. Then, my friend Leira called and I decided to chuck the trip to the drugstore, Target and the dry cleaners and do a little exploring.

I picked L up and we headed out to a mall near her house. There was a shop I wanted to check out; it's called Vintage Market and it's phenomenal! It's a small antique mall that specializes in shabby chic/cottage style products. So cute!! I didn't buy anything but I will definitely be back. Check it out: http://www.vintagemarketkc.com/

We did a bit more shopping; Old Navy, Dilliards, Marshall's. Pretty soon, it was lunchtime. Now normally, I would have found myself at Tomfooleries or Granite City Brewery, with a big burger or a plate of nachos. This shopping trip, I popped open my insulated lunch bag, removed the two blue ice packs, and had my string cheese in between Old Navy and Marshall's. I popped over to Starbucks and got a free large ice water, voila! Lunch. I finished up my two ounces of sliced turkey at Leira's later.

Sunday, I again got up early, caught up with Charles Kurault and then headed out again. I hit Starbucks again, (love the free water!) and browsed through the NY Times, something I haven't done in ages. Then I headed to the Kemper Museum, a local modern art museum where I saw an incredible exhibit of portraits and paintings by an artist named David Bates. Bates painted the pieces in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and they are haunting and brilliant. http://www.kemperart.org/

After The Kemper, I headed out to do the errands I put off the day before. Target, drug store, and dry cleaners, check. After Target, I headed to Bed, Bath and Beyond where I found the perfect piece to hang up on my bedroom wall:

I love it! Perfectly encapsulates how I am feeling these days.

So, what was the point of me telling you the boring ins and outs of my weekend? The point is, I was busy, I was happy, and I did it all without overeating a bunch of junk.

What a difference a couple of days makes.