One year surgerversary

I haven't posted in awhile but May 25th was my one year surgerversary of having VGS surgery.  I've lost 145 lbs so far, bouncing between 164-165 this week.  My next goal is 155 lbs which is losing half my body weight.  I think my final goal will be 138.  I read it somewhere that it's the ideal weight for someone with my body frame, which is small.  I thought I was big boned, nope!  I can wrap my fingers around my wrist with an inch to spare.

So, now to the good stuff.  Starting size~ 3X tops, 24/26 bottoms, size 10 undies, size 10 shoe, size 44DDD bra.  Current size~ Large tops, 10/12 bottoms, medium dresses, size 9 to 9.5 shoe, size 36D to DD bra.  I love wearing dresses as long as I have under armour or bike shorts underneath.  I look pretty damn good in them and they cover everything. up.  I'm posting pics of me in a dress, in a swimsuit, then the front and side view of my stomach that I cover up.  My arms are a little visible in the pics, I need to get a good thigh pic though, ugh!  I've almost quit losing my hair and my cousin does a great job of making it look like I have fullness when she says I've lost about half of it.  I can EASILY eat 4 oz, egg, chicken, and steak are the most dense and make me feel full.  Breads are my sliders.  My goal is 800 to 1200 calories a day, though I lose best at 800. 

The belly

Well folks, here it is.  My belly.  It looks pretty normal under clothes, tucked and stuffed into jeans.  But, this is why I bitch about it daily and want a tummy tuck soooo bad. 

 I like the high waisted jeans I can pull over my belly button then tuck the top.

I call this picture "Freddy Krueger attacked an old lady".  See the vertical butt crack looking thing above my belly button?  That is my appendix scar from 3 years ago.  The other cuts are from my gall bladder and VSG surgery.  The stretch marks were graciously provided by my two kids, gaining weight, and losing.  Above the belly button is all wrinkly loose skin.  Below is still fat.

I go for a local plastic surgery consultation  for $50 in 2 1/2 weeks though my mind is basically made up to get the works done in Mexico early next year.  It's just more cost effective to have it done there.  I'm weighing all my pros and cons.  Anyways, this is the body of a 185 pounder who has lost 125 lbs. 

Happy New Year!

As of this morning I was 188.6 lbs, which is 121.4 down from beginning of May and 96.4 lbs down from surgery.  I've changed my final goal to 155 lbs which would be losing half of my body weight.  I have 33.6 lbs to this goal.  Crossing my fingers for meeting goal by spring time.

My Almost 7 Month Update

I have lost 117 lbs and am wearing size 16 jeans and XL tops.  I can fit into 14s but I'm melted and poured right now.  My shoe size is now a 9.5.  On a daily basis, I mostly eat protein foods and can count on my fingers in 8 months how often I've had bread or flour based products.  I drink orange juice or skim milk daily.  The only sweets have once in a while is dark chocolate with a spoon of peanut butter. 

I have a lot of excess skin now on my stomach but it to be expected with 6 tummy surgeries and a lot of fat gone, hopefully 2014 will be my big plastic surgery year.  You are supposed to wait 6 months after your goal weight to get plastics done but it will be about 12K so I have to pay off my VSG surgery first.  My original goal weight was 170 but being at 193 I'm not happy with my upper arm, thigh, or stomach size so I have reset my 2nd goal weight to 155 lbs.  That will be half of my original size. 

Here are some updated pics.  First was taken in October and second was early December.

4 month surgerversary updates

It's been awhile since my last updates.  I'm still having hair loss, but less than I was.  I am currently wearing a pair of Catos size 16 jeans.  I've thought about either wearing my jeans inside out so everyone can see my tag or announcing it randomly to strangers.  My new favorite snack recipe is eggface protein truffles with Click mocha protein, very brownieish tasting.  I have also had 1 spoon of dark chocolate chips with 8 oz skim milk as a snack and 3/4 a coffee cup of grapes, both of which have no protein but satisfy my evil sweet tooth.  I take pole dance class once a week and zumba class three times a week.  On zumba gym days I also bike 1 to 3 miles or do a little arm strength training if I get to the gym early enough.

 Here are my monthly losses.  I've really slowed down in September but I went from a 20 to a 16 so not all terrible.  I've had more stalls and more slower loss.  
 May 27.6 (inc pre-op), June 17.4lbs, July 15.2lbs, August 17.2lbs, Sept 9.2 lbs

Updated pics of me yesterday in an XL shirt and 16W jeans:

 

84 lbs Down & Pixie Dust

I have lost :::drum roll:: 84 lbs.  My updated goal is to be down 110 lbs by Halloween.  I found the perfect Halloween costume yesterday at Goodwill.  It is a size 18 Avenue dress brand new for $5.  Guess what I'm going to be?  Tinkerbell!  Yep, a size 18 dress fit me perfect so it should be roomy by Halloween.  Just gotta add wings, a wand, and some pixie dust.  I wanted to wear one of those cutesy short costumes but my thighs aren't ready for that yet.  I also got my hair cut short so I would shed less.  It looks goofy in both pics because I don't know how to fix it yet, but here ya go:

No Sugar Added Crockpot Fruit Butter- Greek Yogurt Add-In

Apple butter
1 crockpot full of peeled sliced apples
2 tsp cinnmaon
1 tube 100% apple juice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
3 tbsp honey

Pumpkin butter
2 cans pumpkin puree
3 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 cup 100% apple juice
3 tbsp honey
3 squirts of sugar free pancake syrup

Blueberry butter
1 bag frozen blueberries
1/2 pkg strawberries
3/4 cup 100% apple juice
4 tbsp vanilla infused honey w/ vanilla bean

I made these 3 as experiments this week.  All of them made the house smell A-MAY-ZING, but the best flavor goes to the apple butter.   The apple could also be made with jarred unsweetened applesauce but I have a handy dandy apple peeler/ corer so it didn't add much prep time.  Cut crockpot on low, add all ingredients,  put butter knives across the top of your crockpot and set the lid ajar so the moisture can escape.  Cook for 6-12 hours until your butter gets thick and rich.  The apple & pumpkin will get darker.  On the apple and blueberry, I used my immersion stick blender in the crockpot to blend until smooth.  The apple and pumpkin made 3 jelly jars each and the blueberry made 2 jelly jars.  They keep in the fridge for 2-3 months.  I'm using them as additions to my daily greek yogurt.