WonderFALL Weigh-In: Week 68.5 Post-Op VSG

Autumn has (almost officially) arrived! Which means that life is back to normal – school’s in, my schedule is busy, and obligations abound. But I won’t use those as excuses to slack on my goals. The great thing about fall is that the weather is cooler, which means that those wonderful fall fashions will keep me motivated. Plus, crisp temperatures mean that it’s never “too hot” to workout. I’m going to relish my nightly cup of steaming hot tea as another way to keep my water intake up. I look forward to all those hearty, satisfying and wls-friendly soups, stews, and crockpot meals that I’ll create for myself. This year, the changing season will mark new milestones that I haven’t seen in 5, 7, 10+ years! Bring on fall 2014 – it’s time to reach new heights! Wednesday weigh-ins will keep me accountable through the work week, and will give me a positive outlook for the weekend. Throughout the fall, I’ll be giving Wednesday weight loss updates called WonderFALL Weigh-Ins.

Week 68 was busy, hectic and long.  So much so that I didn’t even have time to write a weight loss update.  I actually didn’t even have a chance to weigh in at all until this morning.  So, here’s a midweek weigh-in update. Even though the week was super busy, I did a good fairly job with my meal planning, eating, and exercising.

So, how’s the scale looking?

When I weighed in this morning, I was 171.0, which is a loss of 1.2 pounds this week, and a loss of 106 lbs since surgery! I’ve lost a total of 144 pounds from my highest weight!! I have 21 pounds to go to my ultimate goal weight of 150 pounds. I’m really happy to see this loss, especially because I haven’t really been putting as much concentration on weight loss this week.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made great meals, gotten in some solid workouts, and continued to eat within my meal plan.  The nice thing about this point in my journey is that I don’t have to think about all of these things as much as I used to.  They’ve become such a habit, such a way of life, that I can go on “auto-pilot” during a crazy week and still see a good result.  That makes me feel awesome.

This week shouldn’t be quite as busy so I’ll have more time to concentrate on working out and meal planning.  I’m not going to go into too many details here, because I’ll write a weekly workout plan post in a few minutes.

I’m so close to reaching the next weight category – the 160s!!  I can’t wait to hit that section, because I haven’t been at that weight since I was 18 years old.  It’s so cool that now at 43, I’ll be even fitter than I was when I was 18. Back then, I wasn’t wearing size small and medium tops or size 10/12 pants, and I think the difference is that I’ve really changed my entire body with the cardio and toning workouts I’ve been doing.  It’s amazing to see such a transformation in my body, and each time I hit a new NSV with clothes, it’s so surreal to me.

 

 

Until Wednesday, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful week!

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WonderFALL Weigh-In: Week 67 Post-Op VSG

Autumn has (almost officially) arrived! Which means that life is back to normal – school’s in, my schedule is busy, and obligations abound. But I won’t use those as excuses to slack on my goals. The great thing about fall is that the weather is cooler, which means that those wonderful fall fashions will keep me motivated. Plus, crisp temperatures mean that it’s never “too hot” to workout. I’m going to relish my nightly cup of steaming hot tea as another way to keep my water intake up. I look forward to all those hearty, satisfying and wls-friendly soups, stews, and crockpot meals that I’ll create for myself. This year, the changing season will mark new milestones that I haven’t seen in 5, 7, 10+ years! Bring on fall 2014 – it’s time to reach new heights! Wednesday weigh-ins will keep me accountable through the work week, and will give me a positive outlook for the weekend. Throughout the fall, I’ll be giving Wednesday weight loss updates called WonderFALL Weigh-Ins.

Week 67 was a pretty good one. I made some great meals, got in a few strong workouts, and even took a long walk when I wasn’t feeling that great over the weekend.

So, how’s the scale looking?

When I weighed in this morning, I was 172.2, which is a maintain this week, and a loss of 104.8 lbs since surgery! I’ve lost a total of 142.8 pounds from my highest weight!! I have 22.2 pounds to go to my ultimate goal weight of 150 pounds. I can’t lie, I’m disappointed that I didn’t see a loss on the scale this week, because I’ve been putting in work and eating right.  But when I look at the week, I did skip two weekday workouts and I wasn’t feeling great this weekend, so I didn’t do as much as I normally would have.  I ate a lot more carbs and less protein than I should’ve late last week (in the form of a chicken pesto pizza that lasted for 3 meals). I’m not too upset about this maintain, because I know it’s only temporary.  It also shows me that at this point in my journey, I need to push harder in order to see a loss on the scale.

So far this week (the past two days), I’ve been getting in strong workouts, following the Tone It Up Frisky Fall Challenge.  This morning my legs are really feeling the squats, lunges, and other moves that I’ve been doing.  I love pushing myself with the toning workouts.  I’ve also resumed C25K, and I was pleasantly surprised that I felt strong in my runs even though I’d taken so much time off from running training.  My main workout goal this week is to make sure I get in all my weekday workouts, not allowing myself to skip any because I’m tried, which usually happens around Thursday or Friday.

In terms of food, things are going well. As I mentioned above, toward the end of last week and into the weekend I wasn’t making the best food choices.  I kept my calories under my daily goal, but I wasn’t eating enough protein and veggies.  I know this is a main reason the scale didn’t move this week.  I know better.  I know that in order to lose weight, I need to eat well, not just keep the calories within my limits.  It’s much more important to keep WHAT I’m eating in check.  Eating out several meals in one week doesn’t lead to weight loss.  It would’ve been better for me to eat that chicken pesto pizza for just the one meal and leave the rest.  I need to release myself from the idea of “wasting food,” and continuing to eat a heavy carb and fat with little protein meal several times just so that I don’t feel wasteful.  Indulging for one meal is one fine, but eating that same meal three times because I have leftovers isn’t good for my weight loss goals. From now on if I go out and indulge in a meal that doesn’t really fit in with my plan, I’m going to enjoy that one meal and leave the leftovers at the restaurant because it’s just not worth the damage it does. So far this week, I’ve done a good job with balancing my protein, veggies, and carbs.

If anything, this maintain is going to spur me to push myself harder this week.  I don’t want to see another maintain on the scale next week, and I’m determined to make sure that I see a new loss.  I’m so close to a new weight “decade,” and I’ve love to move into the 160s next week which is completely doable – I’d only need a loss of 2.4 lbs.  I’m going to keep that number in mind and use it to motivate myself in my workout and in my food choices.  Here’s to moving forward!

 

Until next Wednesday, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful week!

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WonderFALL Weigh-In: Week 66 Post-Op VSG

Autumn has (almost officially) arrived! Which means that life is back to normal – school’s in, my schedule is busy, and obligations abound. But I won’t use those as excuses to slack on my goals. The great thing about fall is that the weather is cooler, which means that those wonderful fall fashions will keep me motivated. Plus, crisp temperatures mean that it’s never “too hot” to workout. I’m going to relish my nightly cup of steaming hot tea as another way to keep my water intake up. I look forward to all those hearty, satisfying and wls-friendly soups, stews, and crockpot meals that I’ll create for myself. This year, the changing season will mark new milestones that I haven’t seen in 5, 7, 10+ years! Bring on fall 2014 – it’s time to reach new heights! Wednesday weigh-ins will keep me accountable through the work week, and will give me a positive outlook for the weekend. Throughout the fall, I’ll be giving Wednesday weight loss updates called WonderFALL Weigh-Ins.

Week 66 was really good.  I’m getting into the swing of this new schedule, and making it all work with my food prep and workouts.  When I can, I’m working out in the morning; when that’s out, I workout after work.  Add to that lots of fun with family and friends over the Labor Day weekend, and it was a nice week for sure.

So, how’s the scale looking?

When I weighed in this morning, I was 172.2, which is a loss of 1.4 pounds this week, and a loss of 104.8 lbs since surgery! I’ve lost a total of 142.8 pounds from my highest weight!! I have 22.2 pounds to go to my ultimate goal weight of 150 pounds. I’m really happy with this loss because I had a similar loss last week.  It’s nice that I’m back on a losing streak, even with so many changes in my work life.

This week I have been pulling out some old recipes to enjoy, including the Lowfat Curry Chicken and a new stir fry, which had tofu, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, sugar snap peas, and edamame.  It’s nice to make big pot meals that I can eat several times throughout the week.  I can’t wait for the weather to get cooler so I can start making my favorite crockpot meals.  So hearty and easy!

Workouts have been really good this week: spinning, elliptical, biking, walking Sofi, and of course, my Tone It Up routines.  The other day I had a hair appointment, and my stylist asked me what races I have coming up.  I told her that I’d taken the summer off from my C25K training, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run anymore, that it was so hard for me.  And then I stopped myself and said, “you know, that’s not like me at all.  I never give up on something just because it’s hard. I really need to get back with my C25K training and make my goal to fully run a 5K happen.”  And so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.  The Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving is about 11 1/2 weeks away, which is more than enough time to complete the C25K training and continue afterward so that I can improve my runs before the 5K.  So, starting next week, I’m going to get back to running intervals, working my way up to full 5K runs, and I’m excited!

I watch TrulyJess‘ vlogs on YouTube almost every night (if you’ve never seen her videos, watch them, she’s such an inspiration!), and one of her sayings is that weight loss, training, etc is You vs. You.  In other words, I’m not in competition with anyone else, except myself.  And the 5K training is a perfect example of this philosophy.

Until next Wednesday, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful week!

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WonderFALL Weigh-In: Week 65 Post-Op VSG

Autumn has (almost officially) arrived! Which means that life is back to normal – school’s in, my schedule is busy, and obligations abound. But I won’t use those as excuses to slack on my goals. The great thing about fall is that the weather is cooler, which means that those wonderful fall fashions will keep me motivated. Plus, crisp temperatures mean that it’s never “too hot” to workout. I’m going to relish my nightly cup of steaming hot tea as another way to keep my water intake up. I look forward to all those hearty, satisfying and wls-friendly soups, stews, and crockpot meals that I’ll create for myself. This year, the changing season will mark new milestones that I haven’t seen in 5, 7, 10+ years! Bring on fall 2014 – it’s time to reach new heights! Wednesday weigh-ins will keep me accountable through the work week, and will give me a positive outlook for the weekend. Throughout the fall, I’ll be giving Wednesday weight loss updates called WonderFALL Weigh-Ins.

Week 65 has been wonderful! I had a great weekend, filled with bike rides, walks with Sofi, spending time with friends, watching my 49ers win, and relaxing after a very busy first week on the new job.  So far this work week has been really productive.  I’m finding my rhythm as I meet with new teachers, gather resources for them, and keep track of all the notes and paperwork. I can already tell I’m going to love this new position, and I’m so glad that I took the chance and went for one of my goals.  Monday I rewarded myself with a shopping spree at Dress Barn, buying tons of new clothes for my fall wardrobe.  The neat thing about this shopping trip was that I think these clothes might last for more than one season.  I’m wearing tops/sweaters in size medium and small (SMALL!!!!!), skirts in medium, and 2 pairs of pants in a size 10! I got a great camel-color water-resistant hooded trench in a medium that I can’t wait to wear because it’s so flattering. 

So, how’s the scale looking?

When I weighed in this morning, I was 173.6, which is a loss of 1.6 pounds this week***, and a loss of 103.4 lbs since surgery! I’ve lost a total of 141.4 pounds from my highest weight!! I have 23.6 pounds to go to my ultimate goal weight of 150 pounds. ***The cool thing about this loss is that it only reflects the last two days, because my last weigh-in was on Sunday.  1.6 pounds in two days is phenomenal!  I’m on a losing streak, and I’m loving it! Especially considering how busy my days have suddenly become.

What am I doing differently?  Lately I’ve been concentrating on making sure to get several servings of veggies in with most meals, and I think that’s making a big difference.  I’m still allowing myself the popcorn I love, but only a few times a week.  And of  course, protein is at the heart of every meal I eat. And I’m still getting plenty of exercise and drinking lots of water. Still, I’ve also been having a few glasses of wine on the weekend, but that doesn’t seem to be affecting my weight loss in the least, which is nice.  I love this lifestyle that I’ve created!

In terms of exercise, I’ve been really proud of the workouts I’ve been fitting in.  I did wake up early on Monday to get in a before-work sweat session, which left me feeling super energized and positive all day long.  Most days I’ve worked out in the afternoon, and I enjoy those after work sessions as a way to transition from work mode to relax mode.  As long as I’m getting a workout in, I’m ok with whatever time of day it is.  I actually enjoy working out now, so I look forward to moving my body, rather than dreading it as I used to.  I really think one of the reasons is the communities of support that I’m part of on MyFitnessPal and Instagram.  I love snapping post-workout pics and tagging them with with my ToneItUp hashtags, and seeing all my #TIUsisters’ posts, too.  On MFP, every time I workout it posts a status, and the outpouring of love I get from my pals spurs me on and makes me smile.

As much as I’ve absolutely enjoyed this summer, I have to admit I’m really looking forward to the true start of autumn.  The crisp, cool mornings and evenings.  The sunny days that aren’t ever too warm.  The changing colors of the leaves, the decorations, and the outfits.  Not to mention all the fun that comes with football season, pumpkin patches, Halloween, and simply sipping cups of coffee, tea, and maybe even a pumpkin spice latte or two.  This year I think I’d like to go apple picking, because it just sounds like so much fun and I’ve never done it before.  What are some quintessential fall things you love to do at this time of year? Help me create a fall bucket list.

Until next Wednesday, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful week!

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Fabulous Fall Weigh-In: Week 26 Post-Op VSG

Autumn has arrived! Which means that life is back to normal – school’s in, my schedule is busy, and obligations abound. But I won’t use those as excuses to slack on my goals. The great thing about fall is that the weather is cooler, which means that those wonderful fall fashions will keep me motivated. Plus, crisp temperatures mean that it’s never “too hot” to workout. I’m going to relish my nightly cup of steaming hot tea as another way to keep my water intake up. I look forward to all those hearty, satisfying and wls-friendly soups, stews, and crockpot meals that I’ll create for myself. This year, the changing season will mark new milestones that I haven’t seen in 5, 7, 10+ years! Bring on fall 2013 – it’s time to reach new heights! Sunday weigh-ins will keep me accountable through the weekend, and will give me a positive goal to begin each new week. Throughout the fall, I’ll be giving Sunday progress updates called Fabulous Fall Weigh-Ins.

Week 26 brought celebrations – my 6-month post op appt and my 6-month surgiversary. Looking back on these past 6 months, I am so thankful for my sleeve and my new lifestyle. I’ve worked hard for all that I’ve achieved, and I have a lot to be proud of.  Lots of things making me smile. This is the last of my Fabulous Fall weigh-ins; next week marks the start of my Countdown to Christmas weigh-ins.

So, how’s the scale looking?

When I weighed in this morning, I was 208.6, which is a loss of 2.4 pounds this week, and a loss of 68.4 lbs since surgery! I’ve lost a total of 106.4 pounds from my highest weight!!  A great loss this week, and I can hardly believe that I’m less than 10 pounds away from being in Onderland!  My main focus over these next few weeks before the close of 2013 is going to be making it to 199 or less.  I know I can do it.

This week, since I’m off, I have more freedom to experiment with my workouts.  Tomorrow I’m going to head to the track and try Day 1, Week 1 C25K again.  I’ve been jogging here and there on my walks (never more than a half a block at a time), but I’ve just been taking it slowly, and I’m not too winded.  Yesterday when I tried it on my walk with my sis, niece, and the pups, my sister said I looked like I was “tip-toeing through the tulips” as I was jogging.  She said I looked like I was skipping, and as if I should’ve been tossing flower petals to my left and right.  LOL. I’m sure it was nothing that graceful, but still, I felt pretty good as I went, and I’m interested in pushing myself a bit more.  I’ll definitely report back on how it goes. Who knows, maybe I’ll spend part of the Turkey Trot on Thursday jogging.

The other thing I really need to do this week is buy some casual clothes.  I have almost nothing to wear after work or on the weekends, which is why I spend so much of my time at home in my pjs.  Nothing wrong with that, but I would like to have a few more options, so I’m heading to Marshall’s to see what I can find.  I’ve never bought clothes at Marshall’s before because their plus size selection stinks, so this is going to be another NSV.  I’ll make sure to post if I find anything good.

I’m so happy with the way that my life is going right now.  This weight loss isn’t easy, but it is manageable.  The hard work and commitment that I put in on a daily basis is showing up on the scale, and I really can’t ask for more than that.  It’s what I wanted all along when I was struggling for all those years – for my efforts to show up.  Now that they finally are, I couldn’t be more grateful and more pleased.  I’m doing it – I’m creating the new me.

Until next Sunday, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful week!

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Fabulous Fall Weigh-In: Week 25 Post-Op VSG

Autumn has arrived! Which means that life is back to normal – school’s in, my schedule is busy, and obligations abound. But I won’t use those as excuses to slack on my goals. The great thing about fall is that the weather is cooler, which means that those wonderful fall fashions will keep me motivated. Plus, crisp temperatures mean that it’s never “too hot” to workout. I’m going to relish my nightly cup of steaming hot tea as another way to keep my water intake up. I look forward to all those hearty, satisfying and wls-friendly soups, stews, and crockpot meals that I’ll create for myself. This year, the changing season will mark new milestones that I haven’t seen in 5, 7, 10+ years! Bring on fall 2013 – it’s time to reach new heights! Sunday weigh-ins will keep me accountable through the weekend, and will give me a positive goal to begin each new week. Throughout the fall, I’ll be giving Sunday progress updates called Fabulous Fall Weigh-Ins.

Week 25 went quickly with Monday’s holiday, but also because the days seem to fly by at this time of year, don’t they?  Wednesday marks my 6-month surgiversary, and I go for my 6-month post-op appointment tomorrow.  I’m looking forward to getting the results of the bloodwork I did a few weeks ago.  (I actually got my labs back a few days after I went in to have the blood drawn, but I really can’t make heads or tails of it, so I’m very interested to hear what the doctor tells me).

So, how’s the scale looking?

When I weighed in this morning, I was 211.0, which is a loss of 0.8 pounds this week, and a loss of 66 lbs since surgery! I’ve lost a total of 104 pounds from my highest weight!!  Even though this week’s loss isn’t even 1 pound, I’m content with it.  I had fairly large losses the past two weeks, so it’s probably time for a smaller loss.  Also, last week I weighed in on Monday, so this was a slightly shorter week.  And really, any loss is a good loss, right?

This past week was one in which I was reminded just how far I’ve come. I’m still amazed when I go into a store and can try on regular sizes – given how much I like clothes, the thrill never gets old.  The most difficult part is not overbuying because I know that the sizes I fit into now will only work for a short time; soon enough I’ll be smaller.  That’s an incredible realization.  I definitely need to start going to stores like  TJMaxx and Marshalls to get some “filler” items that are inexpensive.  And I do take comfort in the fact that these “temporary” clothes will end up in a good home when I donate them.

Beyond just looking better, this weight loss has really transformed the way I feel, too.  At one point this week I had to walk up a couple of flights of stairs to get to my car in the parking lot, and I did it without getting out of breath at all.  In the past, those stairs would’ve been a struggle and I would’ve done everything I could to mask the fact that I was huffing and puffing. And when I’m walking, whether it’s with Sofi or in a 5K, I am constantly pushing to go a bit faster to feel more challenged.  I’m doing a Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning, and since it’s going to be my first solo 5K, I think I’m going to push myself to see just how fast I can go.  I love all these physical barriers that I’m breaking down and surpassing even what I expected would be possible.

This week’s quote is perfect because WLS isn’t a magic pill.  There’s such a misconception out there that once a person has surgery, s/he will automatically lose weight.  And while initially someone might lose weight without much effort, that period doesn’t last long.  It takes a complete change in mindset. It takes making this a lifestyle, not a quick fix.  It takes hard work, organization, and persistence.  It takes making choices that are nutritionally healthy for me when other foods might be easier. It takes planning meals daily.  It takes logging every bite. It takes moving my body and working up a sweat, which gets more difficult the thinner I get.  It takes time and dedication.  And I wouldn’t change one thing, because I’m loving all that it takes.

Until next Sunday, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful week!

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Fabulous Fall Weigh-In: Week 24 Post-Op VSG

Autumn has arrived! Which means that life is back to normal – school’s in, my schedule is busy, and obligations abound. But I won’t use those as excuses to slack on my goals. The great thing about fall is that the weather is cooler, which means that those wonderful fall fashions will keep me motivated. Plus, crisp temperatures mean that it’s never “too hot” to workout. I’m going to relish my nightly cup of steaming hot tea as another way to keep my water intake up. I look forward to all those hearty, satisfying and wls-friendly soups, stews, and crockpot meals that I’ll create for myself. This year, the changing season will mark new milestones that I haven’t seen in 5, 7, 10+ years! Bring on fall 2013 – it’s time to reach new heights! Sunday weigh-ins will keep me accountable through the weekend, and will give me a positive goal to begin each new week. Throughout the fall, I’ll be giving Sunday progress updates called Fabulous Fall Weigh-Ins.

Week 24 was a fun week filled with lots of walks, a few NSVs, and of course, weight loss. (This post is a day late because I spent Saturday night/Sunday morning at FaveCousin’s house to do the Mermaid 5K and I didn’t have my own scale.  So, the weigh-in was postponed a day).

So, how’s the scale looking?

When I weighed in this morning, I was 211.8, which is a loss of 2 pounds this week, and a loss of 65.2 lbs since surgery! I’ve lost a total of 103.2 pounds from my highest weight!!  I’m really happy that I had a nice loss this week, especially since I lost almost four pounds last week.  This week I ate more carbs than normal, but because most of those carbs were from things like oatmeal and lentils I’m not too worried about it.  But I do want to get back to my morning protein shakes this coming week – nothing helps me meet my protein goals like those do.

This week brought a few NSVs:

• I had to buy new jeans because the ones I was wearing are all too big and baggy.  So on Friday afternoon, I bought size 18s from Avenue, which is exciting because in the past I’ve always found Avenue jeans to require a size larger than I can wear in other pants. Buying smaller sizes is always exciting, but it’s really weird to think that I was in a size 28 last year at this time.  I can’t quite comprehend that I’m wearing size 18s – the last time I recall wearing this size was at least 20 years ago.
• When FaveCousin and I went to sushi on Saturday night, we were at a really small hole-in-the-wall sushi restaurant in the Richmond District of SF.  The tables were all really close together. Normally, I would’ve been very concerned that I was taking up too much space compared to the people in the chairs behind me, but I when I looked behind me, I realized there was plenty of space.  And when we got up to leave, I had no problem scooting my chair back and making my way into the aisle.  This was one of those huge, yet quiet moments that only big girls/guys could truly understand.
• The entire experience of the Mermaid 5K yesterday was an NSV for me.  Night and day to the last one I completed, back in March of 2009.  I’ve come a long way, baby!

Today’s quote is really important to me because I’m moving into completely new territory in my journey.  I’m hitting numbers on the scale and wearing sizes that I don’t remember seeing in the last 18 years.  I’m accomplishing things that seemed so far out of reach just a year ago, and now I’m thinking of bigger goals than I ever thought possible.  Recently I was reminded to enjoy each step along this journey, and not just focus on the end goal.  I can honestly say that I am living in the moment, enjoying the gifts that each new day brings, and loving the life I’m creating.

Until next Sunday, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful week!

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Fabulous Fall Weigh-In: Week 23 Post-Op VSG

Autumn has arrived! Which means that life is back to normal – school’s in, my schedule is busy, and obligations abound. But I won’t use those as excuses to slack on my goals. The great thing about fall is that the weather is cooler, which means that those wonderful fall fashions will keep me motivated. Plus, crisp temperatures mean that it’s never “too hot” to workout. I’m going to relish my nightly cup of steaming hot tea as another way to keep my water intake up. I look forward to all those hearty, satisfying and wls-friendly soups, stews, and crockpot meals that I’ll create for myself. This year, the changing season will mark new milestones that I haven’t seen in 5, 7, 10+ years! Bring on fall 2013 – it’s time to reach new heights! Sunday weigh-ins will keep me accountable through the weekend, and will give me a positive goal to begin each new week. Throughout the fall, I’ll be giving Sunday progress updates called Fabulous Fall Weigh-Ins.

Week 23 brought with a huge milestone, so rather than write about how my week was, let’s just get to the numbers!

So, how’s the scale looking?

When I weighed in this morning, I was 213.8, which is a loss of 3.8 pounds this week, and a loss of 63.2 lbs since surgery! I’ve lost a total of 101.2 pounds from my highest weight!!  What a week! I lost almost 4 pounds and hit the “century mark” – 100 pounds lost!! I’m so proud of myself and all that I’ve done to get here.  It’s been a lot of hard work, but achieving this goal within the time period that I set for myself is really amazing.

Today a couple of my friends and I are going to one of my favorite wineries, Testarossa, to celebrate my weight loss.  I know it might seem antithetical to go drink wine to celebrate losing weight, but I think it makes perfect sense.  My life is about balance, and part of that is enjoying celebrations in moderation.

Losing this weight has let me buy some new clothes, and I can’t wait to wear my new size XL shirt when we go today!  I know a size XL isn’t something most women would be excited about fitting into, but considering that at one point last fall I was wearing size 26/28 sweaters, this is very significant for me.

The other 100-pounds lost celebration I have planned is a bike ride with friends in a couple of weeks.  I also wanted to make sure that we did something active to celebrate this milestone, and one of my all-time favorite activities is bike riding.  So we’ll be heading to the Los Gatos Creek Trail to go bike riding for a few hours.  Since more of my friends are able to make this excursion, it will be a really fun day.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn’t rain.

Speaking of bike riding, my reward for meeting this goal is to buy myself a new, red beach cruiser.  I’m going to take my time looking around to find the right bike, and I’ll buy it within the next few months.  I’ll definitely post it as soon as I get it home.

I really like today’s quote because it speaks directly about my own journey.  Losing 100+ pounds isn’t a miracle that just happened.  I manifested it through sweat, preparation, planning, and follow-through.  It took years of perseverance and belief in myself.  It was born from daily choices.  And while I’m as grateful for this weight loss (and my VSG surgery) as I would be for any miracle, I know that I earned it.

Until next Sunday, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful week!

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Fabulous Fall Weigh-In: Week 22 Post-Op VSG

Autumn has arrived! Which means that life is back to normal – school’s in, my schedule is busy, and obligations abound. But I won’t use those as excuses to slack on my goals. The great thing about fall is that the weather is cooler, which means that those wonderful fall fashions will keep me motivated. Plus, crisp temperatures mean that it’s never “too hot” to workout. I’m going to relish my nightly cup of steaming hot tea as another way to keep my water intake up. I look forward to all those hearty, satisfying and wls-friendly soups, stews, and crockpot meals that I’ll create for myself. This year, the changing season will mark new milestones that I haven’t seen in 5, 7, 10+ years! Bring on fall 2013 – it’s time to reach new heights! Sunday weigh-ins will keep me accountable through the weekend, and will give me a positive goal to begin each new week. Throughout the fall, I’ll be giving Sunday progress updates called Fabulous Fall Weigh-Ins.

Week 22 brought with it the change of seasons.  Finally, we’re experiencing cold mornings and evenings, although our days are gorgeous and sunny.  I love the layered clothing of fall, and it’s been fun putting cooler-weather outfits together.  My closet is down to the bare minimum, so I’ve spent a bit on some new sweaters – more on that in a bit. My food has been great, and I’ve been enjoying lots of fall flavors – butternut squash casserole, rotisserie chicken and pumpkin soup, and today I’m going to make pumpkin pie crockpot oatmeal.  Of course I put my own spin on each of these recipes, especially the oatmeal. I need more protein than the original recipe has, so I add in scoops of vanilla protein powder (I also omit the maple syrup in favor of flavored sugar free torani – saves calories and tastes just as good).

So, how’s the scale looking?

When I weighed in this morning, I was 217.6, which is a loss of 1.4 pounds this week, and a loss of 59.4 lbs since surgery! I’ve lost a total of 97.4 pounds from my highest weight!!  The weight loss is slowing down a bit these past couple of weeks, but I’m proud that I can honestly say that I have never had a stall in these 22 weeks.  Considering how awful my weight loss was pre-op, this is a fantastic fact! Actually, forget the caveat, this is a fantastic fact no matter what!  I see so many others on MyFitnessPal struggle with stalls from week to week, but I’ve never experienced one.  I can’t speak to what happens with other people’s bodies, but I can say for mine that having the surgery absolutely reset my metabolism, which had been shot after so many years of yo-yo dieting. Plus the fact that I have followed (most of) the rules Kaiser laid out and cook most of my meals myself.  I have gone out, of course, but it’s a rare, celebratory thing.  I have completely embraced this new lifestyle, and it’s paying off.

I can’t believe how close I am to losing 100 lbs!  I just can’t wait for that magic number to show up on the scale – I really hope I can get to it this week, but if not, I know that within 2 weeks, I’ll be there.  Can you believe it?  I really can’t.  I know I’ve been working hard, and have done everything I should, but it feels very surreal to me that I’ve lost this much weight.  Thank God I had the surgery!

One of the fun things that I did this week was spend the Anthropologie gift card that Amber gave me a couple of months ago.  Her gift was absolutely incredible because it came as a total surprise, and she said she sent it because I was so inspiring to her.  I mean, c’mon!  So generous and so sweet.  I’ve held onto the gift card because I’ve had it in my mind that I’d spend it when I got to goal.  But then I started thinking about the fact that I’m just now moving into tops that I can find in “normal” stores, so why not treat myself?  Plus the fact that my closet is in desperate need of some new fashions.  I went onto Anthropologie.com and hit the “sale” tab.  We all know that their regularly-priced clothing is so expensive, so I figured I’d see what was on sale.  Wow, there are some amazing deals on really cute stuff, and surprisingly, much of it was for this season.  There were quite a few things I liked, but I also wanted to keep to the $50 gift card and not have to spend too much extra.  So, this is what I settled on:

It was originally $128, marked down to $39.99.  With tax and shipping, it came out to $49.80 – pretty good shopping if I do say so myself! I got black because I figured it would take me through fall, winter, and into spring.  Plus, I love it.  And it will go nicely with jeans, skirts, and pants.  I know you can’t see much detail from the photo, so here it is in cream, which shows it off much better:

I love the shoulder detail – those little loops are fun and funky and just different enough to be unique.  Plus, I think having something at the shoulder will probably help define my hourglass shape.  Or, it will make me look like a linebacker…I guess we’ll see.  I ordered it in a Large, which is crazy!  Many of the comments online were saying that it ran large, so I figured that I would get the most use out of it in that size.  I can’t wait!

Amber, thank you again so much for your generosity.  This is my first clothing purchase ever from Anthropolgie, and it’s all because of you!!  I’ll definitely think of you and your support and friendship every time I wear it.

Today’s quote is a great reminder of all of the things that I CAN do.

• I can walk a 5K (or 5 miles, as I did with the SJ RocknRoll) without any pain. More than that, I have fun doing it.
• I can go into any clothing store and buy tops that fit.  This is a huge milestone! (I can’t wait for the day I can say the same thing of pants).
• I can lose weight even though my life is hectic and there never seems to be enough time in the day to accomplish everything I need to do.
• I can make time for workouts because I love the way they make me feel and I know they help me create a stronger body, inside and out.
• I can inspire other people toward their own weight loss goals, and I lead by example.
• I can achieve every goal I have set for myself, which I’m doing, one by one.

Until next Sunday, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful week!

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Fabulous Fall Weigh-In: Week 21 Post-Op VSG

Autumn has arrived! Which means that life is back to normal – school’s in, my schedule is busy, and obligations abound. But I won’t use those as excuses to slack on my goals. The great thing about fall is that the weather is cooler, which means that those wonderful fall fashions will keep me motivated. Plus, crisp temperatures mean that it’s never “too hot” to workout. I’m going to relish my nightly cup of steaming hot tea as another way to keep my water intake up. I look forward to all those hearty, satisfying and wls-friendly soups, stews, and crockpot meals that I’ll create for myself. This year, the changing season will mark new milestones that I haven’t seen in 5, 7, 10+ years! Bring on fall 2013 – it’s time to reach new heights! Sunday weigh-ins will keep me accountable through the weekend, and will give me a positive goal to begin each new week. Throughout the fall, I’ll be giving Sunday progress updates called Fabulous Fall Weigh-Ins.

Week 21 was another great one.  Life continues to be busy, as evidenced by the fact that I’m writing my weigh-in post on Tuesday, when I normally write it on Sunday.  Craziness!

So, how’s the scale looking?

When I weighed in Sunday morning, I was 219.0, which is a loss of 1 pound and a loss of 58 lbs since surgery! I’ve lost a total of 96 pounds from my highest weight!!  Even though this is a small loss, it’s significant because it marks a new weight “decade” that I find myself in.  The TEENS!!  I haven’t weighed this little in…well, I really can’t remember.  My 100 lbs lost is just around the corner, and right after that milestone is Onederland.  Whoohoo!  So much to look forward to.  🙂

One issue that’s come up lately for me is a lack of fiber in my diet.  Ahem.  So, I’ve been adding Amazing Grass to my morning protein shake, as well as taking Miralax nightly.  It’s definitely better than the alternative, which I experienced to an alarming degree on Sunday.  Not fun.

What has been really fun is shopping for new clothes.  I know I mentioned a bit of shopping last week, but as my closet continues to dwindle down to almost-nothing, I’ve been replenishing it.  It’s so cool that I can now buy tops in the normal sizes at stores.  This week I spent a bit of money at Dress Barn, which is a place that I love finding unique sweaters.  Although I hate the name, I really do like the store because it carries both plus and regular sizes.  Another place I’m about to hit is Macy’s.  If I can walk into their Misses department and buy an XL off the rack, I know I’ll be pinching myself in the dressing room.  All these small changes add up to being something that is really amazing.

Today’s quote is one that I really take to heart.  Over the last several years I’ve spent most of my efforts chasing this goal, sometimes spinning my wheels in the process.  So now that I’ve completely transformed my lifestyle (and my body) so that I can build the life I’ve always wanted, it feels fantastic to see my goal in action.

Until next Sunday, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful week!

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