Friday Five: Beach Day!

(I used the Rhonna Designs app on my iPhone to make this pic. I used this picture I took from my trip to Oahu in April.  This is Waikiki Beach, and I loved the color of those umbrellas).

1.  As soon as I finish writing this post, Sofi and I are hitting the road and going to the beach for the first time this summer.  I can’t believe I haven’t been to the beach at all yet this summer. I’m excited to beat the heat (it’s supposed to hit the mid-high 90s here today), walk along the beach with Sofi, and just enjoy the crashing waves. Look for pictures on my Instagram later.

2.For those of you with curly hair, you know how important it is to find the right products.  It’s only recently that my hair has returned to it’s normal curls. After getting my hair smoothed with the formaldehyde-free keratin treatment last December, my curl pattern was completely changed; it wasn’t curly anymore, it was barely wavy.  I’m glad that I got the keratin treatment, because my massive weight loss affected my hair terribly, making it thin, frizzy, and really difficult to manage.  But I’ve realized that I’m just not great at blow drying my own hair on a regular basis (I just don’t have the technique), so I’ve decided not to get the keratin treatment again (which costs $300), and instead treat myself to Dry Bar appointments now and then. But let’s get back to the products.  Now that my hair is back to it’s normal curls, I wanted to find a product that would keep them defined, control the frizz, but and not build up. After trying lots of different things, I found Curly Sexy Hair. I’ve been using the shampoo, conditioner, Full-On Curls, and the Curling Creme.  I like that these products are really affordable, and that they work. I’ve been enjoying lots of compliments on my hair lately, which I haven’t had in about a year.

3. I’ve had a few clothing NSVs this week.  On Sunday, I found the cutest top, but it as in the petite section.  I liked it so much that I decided to try on the petite Medium anyway, and it FIT! Then on Monday, I was shopping around Target and found a cute 49er tee that was a juniors Large (see Instagram photo). The week before last, I went online to Venus and found a bunch of cute tops, all of which were size Mediums; they came on Tuesday, and every single one fits great (see the turquoise, floral peplum top in my Instagram). Yesterday I was thrilled to finally fit into the Chase Infinite tank that I’d bought a couple of months ago (again, see yesterday’s Instagram workout post). Every time I buy clothes in these small sizes, I am amazed at the fact that they fit. Not only fit, but that they look good.  Shopping is such a pleasure now.  I’ve always loved getting new clothes, but now that I can walk into any store and find something adorable, I am loving it!

4. I usually love watching movies in the summer, but I have to say that I’ve been very underwhelmed at the offerings.  The last movie I went to was The Fault in Our Stars, which was very good.  In the many weeks since, there really hasn’t been much I’d be willing to see.  But suddenly there are a few that I’m looking forward to:

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5. I found this photo on Instagram awhile ago, and I love it.  Not only is “choose happy” the way that I try to live my life on a daily basis, but I also love the beach and the image of the sun.  Seeing this just makes me smile, and I’m going to put it up on my white board at school as a daily reminder.  Because no matter how stressful the situation, how disappointing the news, or how unfortunate the event – I choose my reaction and I choose HAPPY.

Happy Friday! I hope you have a wonderful weekend, full of fun and exciting adventures.

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NSV: Size 12 Pants!

Happy Sunday! Happy Father’s Day!  I hope you’ve been enjoying the weekend with family and friends, doing all the things you love to do.  My family celebrated Father’s Day yesterday with a great BBQ at my house.  We had baby back ribs that fell off the bone, red potato & string bean salad, deviled eggs, and a Caprese salad.  Dessert was a delicious assortment of melons, although I just had coffee.  My dad loved his presents, we took a neighborhood walk with the pups after dinner, and really enjoyed each other. A wonderful afternoon and evening.

This post is a bit overdue (as so many of the posts are, but now that it’s summer, I promise to catch up).  Last Tuesday Tinkerbell and I went shopping.  I was in search of some capris, so we headed to Macy’s.  My two favorite brands at Macy’s are INC and Style & Co, and both of them had what I was looking for.

I knew that although my weight had remained the same for the past 6 weeks or so, my clothes were fitting looser, so I decided to take a chance on bringing size 12s into the fitting room.  (Along with my backup 14s, just in case).  I’m thrilled to report that the 12s fit!!  And not just one random pair of “curvy boyfriend,” but every pair I brought into the dressing room.  This is a great time to remind you that I started out this journey in a tight size 28!  And now I’m in size 12!!!!!  I really don’t remember the last time I wore size 12.  Maybe in high school?  But even then, I remember being size 13/14.  I’m sure at some point, when I was on Jenny Craig and got down to 130, I was a size 12, but it was for such a brief moment in time that I really don’t recall.  In any case, I was absolutely thrilled!

The cool thing was that it wasn’t just at Macy’s that this size fit, it was at Old Navy, too.  Later during Tuesday’s shopping trip, Tink and I found ourselves at Old Navy, and I found some cute capri jeans for $20.  Now, to be completely honest, those were size 14, but Old Navy fits me smaller.  In other words, when I was wearing size 14 at Macy’s and every other store, I was in size 16s at Old Navy, which I refused to buy.  This time I decided that I could live with the 14s, because they looked really cute and they were only $20.  Plus, no one sees what size they are, and I know that size 14s at ON translate to 12s everywhere else.

The other really cool discovery was that Tinkerbell and I wear the same size pants.  This is astonishing to me, because I look at her as having really skinny, fit legs and I don’t see myself that way at all.  Her legs are solid and toned, while mine are flabby and full of loose skin.  But after I tried on the Old Navy capris she asked if she could try the same ones on.  I said, “Tink, those are going to be WAY too big for you – your legs are so much smaller than mine.” To which she replied, “Bella, no they’re not.  Your legs are actually small too, without all the skin.”  This really hit me.  Now I don’t think I’d consider my legs as small, and I’ll always think of myself as a curvy girl, but seeing Tinkerbell put on the pants and that they fit her about the same way they fit me was really illuminating.  And oh so cool!  I’ve never had a bestie I could share clothes with before – and now we can!  Fun!!

Friday I went to Kohls to look for some tops, but just to verify this new size 12 pants thing I tried on a few pair of pants, and the 12s fit there, too!  The fun thing at Kohls was that I’m solidly in a size Medium top.  All sorts of tops fit me in that size – which is really crazy. I’ve always been smaller on top than on the bottom, but at my heaviest I was wearing size 26s that were super tight around my hips.  Not anymore!  Shopping is so much fun now as I try to figure out my style.  I’ll make sure to post OOTD photos on Instagram, if you’d like to keep up with my evolving style there.  I didn’t take photos of everything, but here are a couple of outfits that show these new sizes:

I was going to the SJ Giants game on Wednesday night, so I have that tshirt on, along with the size 12 INC curvy boyfriend jeans (which I rolled into capris). As the night wore on the jeans got looser, and at one point Di even commented that the jeans were too loose.  LOL.  I need to wash and dry them.

This was my outfit yesterday for the Father’s Day BBQ.  The top is size medium from Kohls – I love that bandana print.  The top is super comfy and light, perfect for hot weather.  The pants are the size 12 Style & Co capris.  Also super light and comfy.

I’m so happy that my body is still making progress, even though the scale has slowed down a bit.  It shows that all my hard work at the gym has paid off, and that I’m losing inches.

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{On a side note, I forgot to do a weigh in post on Wednesday, so let me give an update.  After taking about a week off from working out and making some poor food choices during the last week or so of school, last Saturday had me up about 5 pounds at 185.8.  Yesterday I weighed in at 179.6 – that’s a loss of 6 .2 pounds this past week.  I’m really proud of that for a few reasons:

1. I knew the weight gain was mostly water weight from eating movie popcorn with butter, too many trips to Yogurtland, and a few other poor meal choices, not to mention not getting enough water or any workouts in.  I knew it would come off fast.
2. I’ve been putting in WORK at the gym with cardio and toning routines this week.  Tink and I met at 7:30am twice and at 7am another time.  And I worked out myself the other days.
3. I’m finally in the 170s!!  Even if it is just barely into the 170s, I’ll take it.  It means the scale is moving, and I’m happy with that.

I promise that I’ll write a Wednesday weigh-in post this week}.

 

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NSVs like WHOA! Who is that girl in the mirror?

Lately the work clothes side of my closet has been looking like someone snuck in and stole everything they could get their hands on.  Lots of wide, open space and nothing but empty hangers. It’s definitely seen better days. I’ve been “getting by” wearing jeans and sweaters, but now that the weather is getting nicer outside (aside from the rainstorm we’ve had the last few days), it was time to do something about it.

The thing is, I haven’t wanted to spend tons of money because I’m still losing weight rapidly and sizes don’t last long.  So, I figured a trip to Marshall’s was in order.

When I was wearing sizes 28, 26, or even 24, I could never shop at Marshall’s because they never had anything that fit me.  And on the off chance that they actually had a garment in my size, it was never the right fit – too boxy, too “old lady,” or just too ugly.  I longed for the day when I could walk into Marshall’s and find a bunch of clothes in my size that looked good on me for a great deal.

Well, I’m so thrilled to announce that today was that day!!

First let’s start with the things that didn’t work…

For one reason or another, these didn’t make it out of the dressing room.

• The top left was a cute INC shirt in medium, and I was all set to get it, until I noticed that it had a bead missing on that accessory in the middle.
• The bottom left was a size large and just too loud.  I grabbed it and thought maybe it would look better on than it had on the hanger, but no dice.  Plus, it had a dolman sleeve style which doesn’t look good on me.
• I almost brought home this bright orange top on the right.  It’s from Juicy Couture, and I loved how happy it looked. It was also a medium.  In the end, it was $30, and while that’s a good price for the brand, I didn’t want to spend that much on it.

Ok, so let’s get to the things that came home with me. Let me preface these photos by explaining that I had on skinny jeans and Uggs, and because the dressing rooms at Marshall’s have bare floors, and I didn’t have socks on, I didn’t want to take off my Uggs or jeans.  Which is why you see the jeans around my ankles, which is an oh-so-Klassy (yes, classy with a K) look.

The thing that I love about this dress is how thin I feel in it.  It’s got a racer back, and has a gold zipper on the outside of the dress in the back that adds a perfect touch of style.  It has side pockets, too, which are really convenient.  I can’t believe that it’s a size L and it’s not tight at all in the booty, hips, or thighs. And with a price tag of $29.99, it was definitely coming home with me.

I loved this pattern because it’s very spring-like and happy, but it’s still sophisticated.  This one is a faux-wrap dress, and it hits me just at the knee.  It’s a bit clingy in the hips & booty, but that’s what shapers are for.  And actually, don’t mind that it’s slightly fitted because it will fit me for quite some time. This dress was also priced right at $29.99.

This outfit makes me feel young and light.  The skirt is slightly short, but I think it will look great with tights.  Plus, I can wear a skirt for a lot longer than I can pants. When pants get too big, they are really unflattering.  When this skirt starts to get a bit bigger, it will rest lower on my hips, and it will still be a good length. The skirt was $30, which is a good price for the brand. And this top… it’s a medium! I love the color blocking because it’s so flattering, and the hot pink color is really my favorite. The top was $16.99, which is an amazing deal!

So, I got two dresses, a skirt, and a top!  Three cute outfits, two pieces of which I can mix and match with other things.  Oh, and I also picked up an SF Giants woman’s tee ($12.99) that I’m going to wear to the BBQ tomorrow.  And because it’s Marshall’s, I also picked up an 18-pack of Tully’s Hawaiian coffee K-Cups (to get me in the mood for my trip!) for $8.99 and an Alladin stainless steel coffee tumbler for $5.99.  My total bill was $149.53 for all of that stuff! Not too shabby!!

The Marshall’s I went to had a huge activewear section that I didn’t even go through because I was trying to show some restraint.  Believe me, I’m going to be a regular customer of that section very soon.

I had an amazing day today!  Shopping is always fun, but shopping for clothes like these in sizes like this was truly exceptional.  I was so proud as I slipped each item on and saw how it looked reflected back to me in the mirror.  And when I look at these photos as I’m writing this post, I am really thrilled that I see collar bones jutting out, dimples prominently displayed, and such a happy look on my face.  Losing 125 pounds is an awesome accomplishment, but seeing myself as this new, dare-I-say…thin woman is breathtaking.

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3-Month Post Op Appt

On Wednesday I had my 3-month post op appointment, which was informative, but because it was done in a group setting, it was sort of boring. The group was comprised of WLS patients who all had surgery around the same time I did. A few of them had already hit the 4-month mark, but most of us were around 3 months.

Food
It began with a talk with the nutritionist who gave the standard information about food: amount, portion size, balance, etc. I’ve always eaten really well, and understand how to keep my menu balanced, so I didn’t learn anything new. She did say that she doesn’t recommend using protein shakes as meal replacements, but because I’m not a huge fan of breakfast foods, I’m going to continue having my shakes in the morning. Once in a while I’ll replace the shakes with overnight oats or crock pot oatmeal (to which I’ll add a couple of scoops of protein powder). My lunches and dinners are going well, and I’m figuring out ways to keep the variety high. At this point, they recommend that I eat between 800-1000 calories per day, which I am most of the time. Most days are somewhere between 800-900 calories. They also recommend getting around 80g of protein per day, which I’m definitely fitting in, most days I try to get closer to 90g.

Vitamins
Next the bariatric department doctor came in and answered a bunch of questions, which was great. She even gave some helpful tips about cutting down on the number of vitamins we need to take each day. She suggested Wellesse liquid Calcium, and the reason I like it is because I only have to take two 2-TBSP servings to get in the required 2000mg per day. Little things like that are going to make it a lot easier for me to remember to take my vitamins, which I’ve been really failing at lately. She also said that she thinks it’s “rubbish” that we can’t use straws, which made me happy because I’ve been drinking with straws from the 3rd week post op. I was surprised when the doctor said that she “shrugged her shoulders” at carbonation. She said that immediately post-op carbonation was too harsh for our stomachs, but at this point if we want to have some carbonation from time to time, we can. I’m not a soda drinker, but I do enjoy having sparkling water now and then. The doctor said as long as the carbonation didn’t cause us any discomfort or excessive belching, it should be fine in moderation. I’m not going to go out and buy a bunch of sparkling water, but it is nice to have the option.

Hair Loss
One thing that’s been really disturbing is the amount of hair I’m losing every time I wash it. I’m not talking the normal 100 strands of shedding, I’m talking whole handfuls of hair. Mounds of hair. Yes, I have a lot of hair, and it’s very thick, so I’m lucky. But with the amount that I’m losing every time I wash it, I’m getting worried about what I’m going to be left with when this period of hair loss is over. The doctor said hair loss begins around month 3 and lasts through month 6, and that it gets worse before it gets better. She said that Biotin and other supplements don’t have any affect on the hair loss or on the regrowth, which is just as well, because when I did take Biotin, I broke out terribly. The only thing that helps is to keep up with my Iron intake. My family and friends tell me that I’m the only one that’s noticing how much smaller my ponytail is getting, but it doesn’t stop me from being concerned. Although, I still wouldn’t change a thing, I’m so glad I had this surgery and only wish I’d had it sooner.

Reward
After the appointment I decided I was going to treat myself to a little shopping. I’ve been trying my best not to buy anything, because I know that it’s only going to hang in my closet for a short time, but things are getting a bit desperate. I have no work pants whatsoever, and while I can wear jeans any day I like, I really like to try to wear them only on Thursdays (when we wear college gear to promote that college-bound culture) and Fridays (when we wear blue to show school spirit). Once winter hits I wear jeans more often, because I think sweaters help dress them up, but for now, I wanted some work pants. I went to Kohls, where I have never really shopped for clothes in the past because I was too big to fit into most of the Womens (Plus) sizes. I got some really great pieces:

This one looks great on because of the black color blocking on the sides. It’s really flattering. Plus, I can wear this on school color Fridays.

Another one to wear on school color Fridays. It may not look like it on the hanger, but this one shows off my waist really well.

This one was too cute to pass up. I can wear it on blue Fridays, and I like the whole Superman thing. I did customize it by cutting out the crew neck and cutting more of a v-neck. This is a men’s large, and a year ago (or even 6 months ago) I would’ve been too big for a men’s 2XL.

I really like these pants because they look like dressy grey pants, but they’re actually denim. They’re a wide-leg cropped pant, and I love them.

These pants were the ones that blew my mind. They’re just regular, black work pants that I can wear with anything, but there’s something special about these…

THEY’RE A SIZE 18!!!!! They’re a bit snug in the hips/thighs, but they zip up and button without a problem. This is incredibly exciting!

I started out in a tight size 28 pants, so the fact that these pants are a size 18 is amazing to me.  I am over the moon that I’m able to fit into these.  I seriously can’t believe it.  This is ridiculously fabulous!!!

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