Yeah, I know I'm a slacker

I have the best intentions when it comes to blogging, but sometimes it just doesn't happen for me. Maybe I should make that one of my New Years Resolutions.. to blog daily! It's very therapeutic and I feel like I get a lot out of it. So why don't I do it as often as I should? B/c I suck, that's why!
Hmm, what's new with me...
Well, I broke up with my boyfriend last month. It was for the best. I'm in a self discovery stage in life right now, and I really feel like I wasn't in the right place for a relationship. So, I'm single again! WOO HOO! lol
I am STILL in the 170s. They are never going to go away are they? I was 170.8 this morning when I hopped on my scale. Maybe I should get on my Wii fit.. that's on carpet, and it's very nice to me with my weight. lol My Mii character on there looks like Mr. T.. Am I cool or what? hahah
I got bad news from the endocrynologist at my ob/gyn office. My hormones are still completely whacked out. Everything else has fixed itself but this. I have an appointment on November 10 to get more details about this, but I do know that I still have PCOS, and I also know that I have EBV (Epstein-Barr Virus) which is chronic fatigue syndrome. It all makes sense now! Apparently about 90% of Americans have the virus, but it lies dormant in most. Well, we all know I'm not like most... It's super hyper active in me! No wonder I have no freakin energy lately. So, I'll find out what to do about all this crap on Nov. 10. Then, I go see Dr. W sometime in November after I get my labs done. Aye! Hopefully he will have words of wisdom for me as well.
I started going to therapy too. My second session is this Saturday morning. I left my first session feeling really enlightened and feeling like I know myself a little better. The therapist told me that I was very intelligent (duh! haha) and that I seemed to have great insight into myself, just not knowing how to fix certain things.. She thinks the root of a lot of my issues may be self doubt. That makes sense.. or does it? There I go doubting myself again! ::sigh::
Work sucks.. I'm still there actually.. I already have over 30 hours this week and I still have 2 days to go. I am ready to have normal hours. Thank heavens for OT though!
Well, I'm sure there is much more going on in this lil brain of mine, but I will save it for another blog!
Toodles! 'Til next time!

Size 12!!!

Thanks to my dear friend Jil, I now know that I can fit into a size 12. I've been wearing size 16 Levis b/c they were comfy, but I tried on three different brands of size 12 jeans at TJ Maxx on Saturday, and I was able to squeeze my squishy thighs and toosh all the way in and close em up! LOL I was actually shocked that I am in a size that is officially not plus size at any store.. I think I may have been in 2nd grade the last time I was not a plus size girl. And I was then too, but I was able to wear junior girls clothes and the like instead of being in the "husky" section.
Anyways, I wanted to share my joys with you all!

I had a great time this weekend.. Friday night I hung out with my friend Rosanne.. we went to the gym and out to have a healthy dinner. Saturday morning, Jil came over for awhile.. we went to pick up our pottery at Young at Art, drove around taking pictures of VW bugs, and went to Luby's for lunch. Then, I managed to spend almost $200 at TJ Maxx. It would have been more if I hadn't put back half of what I wanted! LOL Saturday evening we went to Scream World, a haunted house in north Houston. Wow, that was fun! My friend gave us free passes, so I think it was more fun not having to pay $35 each for a 20 minute screamfest! Then on Sunday, I went to the Texas Renaissance Festival. (See above pic with two barbarian beauhunks! woo hoo!) I had never been before, and wow! If you love to people watch, this is certainly your place!

I need to weigh and measure again, but I did not eat well at the RenFest, and mother nature is mean to me this week.. So I will post an update on that again soon. For now, knowing I can wear a 12 is good enough for me! :P Oh yeah, I fit into a size M top as well! woo hoo!! Unforunately, I may be in a training bra again by the time I am done losing weight.. ugh!

Ok,I'm off for now!
xoxo to all! :)
Laurie

The Difference A Year Makes

Well, today it has been officially one year since my life changing surgery. I have gone from 312 pounds to 171 lbs.. From a tight 28 to sometimes 30 jeans, to a loose size 14.. From 4X shirts to M or L... It's just amazing.

I'm nowhere near the end of my journey, but I'm definitely at a milestone! I hope to continue to lose weight.. not really sure how much more, but I will know when I'm more comfortable. I'm not sure if plastics are in my future or not, as I'm not sure how long it would take me to afford anything, and nothing is bothering me too bad yet.. so, we shall see what the next year brings.

October

Shame on me! I completely skipped over September in my blogging. Good excuses though, I suppose. Hurricane Ike came through Houston, work has been hectic, and I went on vacation for a little over a week.
Not much has changed in my world. My last weigh in was 176.8. I won't reach my goal by my 1 year surgiversary, which is October 15. Instead of beating myself up, I need to be proud. I'm not 310 lbs anymore like I was a year ago! That is a remarkable feat!

I will write more later.. just wanted to check in and let everyone know I'm still around! :)
Hugs to all!

179.8

That's where i am now.. I finally, after well over a month and a half, made it out of the 180's. Granted, next time I drink or eat something, I may be back in the low 180's, but at least I saw it once so far! :-)
Sorry my blogging has been spotty at best.. Just haven't had much to say I guess.
I either have an enemy or there are some total thugs in my neighborhood, or both! My car was broken into Sunday night, and my radio was stolen. My shoes were removed from my car and thrown into a neighbors yard, and my glovebox and center console were open and gone through. How frustrating! :( I have also had my car keyed on two separate occasions. I can not wait to move! It is extremely ridiculous..
Anyway, that's all that's been going on in my neck of the woods as of late.. I'll try to be a little more interesting so I have more to write about! lol :)

My Doctor's Appt

I had my appointment with Dr. W yesterday. Everything went well. My labs were great except for Vitamin D (was at a low 11 on my first lab, and now it's at 28 - if that means nothing to you like it does me, it's supposed to be between 32-100). I'm not anemic, and my protein levels are good, but closer to the low side so I want to focus on that. My liver function was high last time (likely from getting a massage or lifting weights, according to Dr.W), and that was fine this time around.
My official weigh in on his evil scale was 181, so it wasn't as evil as it used to be! :) I'm 3 days shy of 10 months, so my average lost per month is 12.9 lbs. Not too shabby! I really need to kick it up a notch or four now though - I really want to hit my goal by January!
Other observations from Dr. W - my resting heart rate was in the upper 80s in the beginning - now it's in the upper 50s-low 60s. My heart isn't working so hard just to live anymore! My blood pressure was 110/61. On a good day pre-op it was 150/90.
I have absoluetely NO regrets having gastric bypass, besides of course not having it sooner. I feel so much better about myself, have so much more energy, and am just in better health!

Slowing Down..

Last week was incredibly busy for me at work, hence no blogging from me! The first week of every month, I have to get all the billing done for the previous month and we have some pretty tight deadlines. I am always sure to make my deadlines, but I did manage to have to work about 7 hours worth of overtime during the week. That's ok though, I need it! The check that I get the overtime in is the check that my car note comes out of, so it's nice to have a little extra padding that week! hehe This week has slowed down a bit though, so hopefully I'll get back into my blogging. I really feel that it is therapeutic for me! :)

Today I have my checkup with Dr. Weinstein. I'm kind of disappointed in my weight loss since my last checkup. The last one in April I was 213, and now I'm 185. That comes down to a little less than 9 lbs a month (since I'm a little late on my checkup). I was hoping to stay above 10 lbs a month - I know it slows down, but damn it, not this soon! LOL I hope to be to my goal by January 15 of next year - that's 15 months. Only time will tell, right?

My weekend was uneventful for the most part. The busy week left me exhausted, and on Saturday I cleaned quite a bit and played World of Warcraft. Ugh - my friend had been trying to get my to play this game for over a year, and I finally gave in, and it's addicting. On Sunday, my sister came into town with my nephews. We all had dinner, and watched the boys play guitar hero on Wii. They put me to shame. BIGTIME! My boyfriend came over and got to meet some more of my family. :)

Someone at my work started selling this product called Monavie - it's an Acai juice that gives you your 8 servings of fruits and veggies in 2 oz. It is actually pretty tasty and they have an active blend that has glucosamine in it. Since I have arthritis in my knees, I got that kind. I did notice that my knees didn't creak going down the 5 flights of stairs this morning from the parking garage. I hope it helps with that! I will probably become a distributor as well - I already have a few friends wanting some, so why not, right?

The Weekend Has Arrived! Huzzahh!!

Well, this week has been very long a tortuous. Not for any reason really - I'm just burned out at work, not getting quality sleep, and just overall a blob. Doesn't that sound fun!?
Tonight I'm going to an Astros game with Jay.. they're playing the Mets! Every Friday at the Astros games, there are fireworks after the game. I really like watching that.. it's not a cheap production at all! Then after the fireworks, I'm going to Barnes and Noble's release party at midnight to get the final book in the Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn. This is the fourth book, and I'm in the middle of the third one. I have been reading it slowly because I know I'll want to start reading the final book immediately! My friend Michelle turned me on to these books. They're actually Young Adult books, as she was a 6th grade reading teacher before moving to social studies. I really really love the books though, and it's not about what I would typically want to read.. maybe that's why I had her copy of Twilight for 4 months before I even started reading it! LOL But, once I started, I couldn't put it down, and had to go buy all 3 of the current books, as well as the author's first adult book (not adult in that sense, just a book written for adults), The Host. I'll let you know how that is when I get to it! :)
Other than tonight, and church on Sunday, I don't have much planned. Personally, this is a great thing! My computer should be arriving today sometime, so maybe I can get that set up. When I left for NYC in June, I turned my computer off. I rebooted it when I got home from vacation, and it turned on, then I got a white screen, and nothing ever happened with it again! Hmm.. who knows what the deal is! I found a good scratch n dent one from dell.com and am awaiting it's arrival. It has Blu-Ray on it, and a media bay for the SD cards.. I'm kind of excited about that! :)
Ok, I've been rambling on and on today for no reason... so I will be off... I hope all of you have a lovely weekend!
xoxo
GG

The difference in 10 months...

Anytime I get frustrated with my slowing weight loss (which is on a daily basis nowadays), I try to think of the changes in my life in the past 10 months since my RNY surgery.

• No more high blood pressure
• No more sleep apnea
• Normal cholesterol
• Went from Super Morbidly Obese to Morbidly Obese to Obese - just 6 lbs from being "overweight"
• Went from size 28 or 30 jeans to size 14.. and if all my weight weren't in my ass and thighs, I'd be a 12.
• Went from a 4x top to size L
• I can ride comfortably in an airplane seat
• I can ride any rollercoaster I want
• Chairs with arms don't stay attached to my ass when I stand up anymore
• All booths are comfy
• I can cross my legs
• I get attention from the opposite sex
• People see me as an inspiration (yeah, I don't get it either!)
• I'm not the biggest girl everywhere I go anymore
• I'm more assertive... I don't hide behind my weight anymore
• I am comfortable doing any number of activities that my size would have hindered before.
• I have energy now
• I am learning more about nutrition and health than I ever thought I could know

Yes, I have a ways to go to reach my "ideal" weight. But, my journey is far from over. This is just the beginning!

Xoxo to all!

Obesity Help Convention

OOooh, I just found out today that there will be an OH Convention right here in Houston. It is November 15-16 at a hotel in SW Houston. I absolutely cannot wait to attend! At this point I will be 13 months out and struggling even more to lose weight, so this could not come at a better time for me personally. :)
I hope to see you all there! The tickets are $60, but I think that is very reasonable for a 2 day convention. The support is priceless in my opinion, and seeing SOOOO many people who have gone through the same things will be wonderful!

Monday!

Well, here we go with another lovely Monday. I wish weekends were at least 3 days long.. I would love that so much! I don't think that's too much to ask, do you?
I had a really nice weekend. Friday was my Girls Night.. We had a great time at Oklahoma! That little theater was so cute, and the cast did a great job. I look forward to going there again soon! We went to Skeeters for dinner before the play, and wowsas, their shish kabobs are soo tasty!
Saturday, I had to go to my labwork for Dr. W. I was a little late on that, but I doubt it's a big deal. TEN vials of blood... and they took it in the dark... they've never done that before! ODD! I also had to switch out my cable modem with Comcast, as mine was completely dead at home! Later in the day, my boyfriend picked me up and we drove down to Galveston. We walked along the seawall a little bit, then stopped for dinner at Luigi's on the Strand. That place is sooo good! I had lobster ravioli. Mmmm tasty! After that, we drove up to Kemah. I had never been to Kemah, and it is sooo cute! We walked around a lot and explored the place. We didn't ride the wooden roller coaster because it was closed already. I was a little bummed, but there's a reason to go again! :) I think I was still too full to ride it anyways.. may not have been pretty!
Sunday, I picked Jil up and we rode to church together. It was a great message yesterday! Then, we went to a BBQ place for lunch, and I had a sliced beef sandwich without the bread. It was quite tasty! :)
I FINALLY broke out the Wii Fit this weekend.. and let me tell you.. I am OLD! I am 50 years old.. well, 48 now after my second test. I have no sense of balance whatsoever, and it shows in my "age"! The games are fun though, and I look forward to seeing my age drop, and more importantly, seeing my balance improved. I've always known I'm a little unbalanced, but geez!
Hope everyone had a lovely weekend! :)
xoxo

Girl's Night Out!

Recently, a new tradition has been formed. Three of my closest dearest friends and I go out on a girl's night out.. the goal is at least once a month, but we try for more often. It's great company, therapeutic, and very important to me. Another great thing about it is that we are all post op, so we don't have to worry about food pushers, disagreeing with everyone on where to go eat because of the lack of healthy choices, and just general issues that we have to think about that no one else needs to give a second thought to.

Our first one was to go see the movie Sex and the City. That was tons of fun.. great movie, and great friends. We all pretty much agree that we'd be either Carrie or Charlotte.. I took the quiz online once, and I was Carrie.. lol

Next, a few weeks later, we went to The Mad Potter. It's a great place where you pick out a piece of pottery and paint it. Then, you just leave it there, and they fire it and glaze it.. and VOILA! In my case, I got a glossy little piggy bank that a 4 year old could have done better at! LOL

Tonight - we're going to see the play Oklahoma! at a little theater in west Houston. I'm looking forward to it! My visit to New York got me very interested in the theater. I already have season tickets to Broadway Across America in Austin for next year.

I love my time with my girls! :)

What happened on your birthday?

I saw this fun little game on another blog. Just look up your birthday on Wikipedia, and list 4 facts, 3 famous birthays and 3 deaths that happened on your birthday. (Don't look up the year, just the birth day).
Here's mine:
February 28
1784 - John Wesley charters the Methodist Church.
1861 - Colorado is organized as a United States territory.
1983 - The final episode of M*A*S*H is broadcast in the USA, becoming the most watched television episode in history, with 106–125 million viewers in the U.S. (estimate varies by source).
1991 - The first Gulf War ends.

Birthdays:
1970 - Daniel Handler, American writer, better known as Lemony Snicket
1976 - Ali Larter, American actress and model (Same Year as me too!)
1985 - Fefe Dobson, Canadian singer (really like a few of her songs!)

Deaths:
1525 - Cuauhtémoc, Aztec ruler
1916 - Henry James, American writer (b. 1843)
1985 - David Byron, English singer (Uriah Heep) (b. 1947)

Quite interesting, eh?

Hello, Dolly!

While it sucks that a hurricane has hit the coast of southern Texas, it sure is nice to get some rain. I'm on the 10th floor of the building where I work and have a nice view of the storms blowing through. I love when it rains sideways as long as I'm not standing or driving in it! People seem to forget how to drive when it rains.. it's ridiculous! This weather makes me want to curl up in bed, cuddle with my little Roxcee and read a good book or take a nice little nap...
But no, I'm at work! *sigh*
I have a whole lot of nothing to say.. but figured I would just say that I'm enjoying the weather and glad the grass will survive another week or two :)
Hope all is well with everyone!
xoxo

RSS Hugger

Through one of my fellow bloggers, http://greentshirt.blogspot.com/, I stumbled across a great site called RSS Hugger. It's basically a service to help you promote your blog and get more exposure. I figured it would be a great way for me to spread my wings throughout the world and share my story. Check out the site when you have a moment! http://www.rsshugger.com/. Hopefully it will be a great way to get trafffic and spread the word about weight loss surgery!

Love to you all! :)

In a Funk and Other Stuff

I've noticed that since I have had WLS, I've gone through a rainbow of emotions. Most days I am in a great mood, with a completely sunshiney positive outlook on the world that may make other people nauseated. (Hi Jil!) Other days, I feel like an insensitive jerk. Other days, I'm very moody and bitchy. It's annoying! I don't know if it's hormones, since my body is freaking out and doesn't know what to do with itself anymore.. Or maybe my fat covered up that I was always sometimes an insensitive jerky bitchy girl sometimes.. Who knows? As they say, this too, shall pass!

My mom is doing well. She has her first follow up appointment today with her surgeon. I did go fill her pain medication prescription yesterday. She was feeling bloated and it was making her feel like her incisions were going to pop. The pain medicine they sent her home with helped, so she had me fill it up. I'm glad she's doing so well. She's off all of her medications already, and her sugar and bp levels are doing great. Her bp is better than mine even! :)

I've been feeling like crap for the past few days as well. I think I was so focused on making sure my mom was ok, that I wasn't eating well (not enough) and I know I wasn't drinking enough. So, leave it to me to get dehydrated and just feel horrible overall. Also, I forgot to take my birth control pills 3 days in a row, so I started again... That always makes me get a headache! So... here we are Day 4 with a headache.

My goal rewards I set for myself were massages. I was due for another one when I got under 200 lbs that I haven't redeemed yet. Maybe it's time for that! Unfortunately, my wallet doesn't allow for that right now. Hopefully within a week or two.. I have had incredible amounts of tension lately!

Ok, this bitch session is over for now.. hehe

Love and hugs to you all!
xoxo

Update on My Mom!

My mom had her surgery today. It went without a hitch... the surgeon said she did great and to keep up the good work. She was walking around this evening like she owned the hallways... better than I did, that's for sure! When they brought her into the room out of recovery, she was smiling and joking around. HUH!? LOL She claims it's because she's old and just had a good nap. :o)
See, I come by my craziness honestly!
Anyways, she's doing well. Thirsty, but feeling great otherwise. Tomorrow she has her swallow test and then she can start the sip sip sip process that we all know and love.
Just wanted to post a quick update! :)
xoxo to you all!

Laurie

The Move Is Complete...

Well, I've been trying to play with my blog on wordpress, and I am starting to believe that wordpress is not for novices. Everything seems so much harder! So, instead of spending the time to learn how to do things, I figured I'd move my blog to a place that I understand and can easily make look how I want! :) So here I am at blogger.
I'm keeping the old one but not adding more to it... I hope this one is easier for all to navigate! It is certainly easier for me to use!
xoxo

Sparkpeople

Does anyone else out there use Sparkpeople? It’s a free site that has recipes, exercises, motivational articles, food and exercise logs, and more! If you haven’t used it before and are interested, I will forewarn you that you get lots of email. I switched off of my main email address and added a different one, just to avoid the whole influx on my main account. I do actually read the emails and find them inspiring and helpful! If you are a member, please add me as a friend! My user ID is LAURIE9797. If you haven’t looked, please use me as a referral!
Let me know what you think. Is it lacking in any areas compared to other sites? The message boards aren’t great in my opinion, but I go to Obesity Help for the message boards.
I’ve been trying to update my site and make it prettier, but I will have to do it from home. So many little things are blocked through work, so anything can add to my frustration levels!
I’m bitchy today! I got to sleep around 12:30 or so, and the quality of sleep sucked! My friend rides with me in the morning and I finally got OUT of bed, when she was on her way to my house! I took my dog out, and noticed someone had written on my windows of my car with some shaving cream or something.. WTF? I’m 32 years old, I know none of my friends do that kind of thing anymore.. Stupid Kids! LOL I washed that off, and got ready faster than ever have before! :) I am ready for a nice long nap though!
Wow, 2 blogs in 2 days.. Maybe I’ll get back into the swing of this!
xoxo to all!

Bad Blogger!

I’ve been a terrible blogger lately. I have so much running through my head ALL the time, but just haven’t put it into words for the world to see. Honestly, it’s probably a good thing. You’d be bored to tears I’m sure!Hmm, what is new with me? My mom is having her RNY this Thursday. I am so thankful that she was approved, and so hopeful that it will help make her healthier. She has had Type II Diabetes for quite some time, so long, we’re not sure how long. We found out she had it through a foot infection which turned into a partial amputation. So, being able to overcome diabetes is the primary reason she is having the surgery. That along with sleep apnea, hypertension, heart disease, you name it! I know she is in good hands both spiritually and through her surgeon! Please though, if you are a spiritual person, pray for my mom this week! I’d greatly appreciate it!
As far as my weight goes, I’m stuck again. This time, at 188.2 I believe. I weigh less than I did when I met my ex husband, which was my first personal goal. Back then I think my highest ever weight was 230 and I was on Meridia and made it down to 201.. then met him and started going out to eat, doing the whole dating thing, and ballooned up to 270 by the time we got married. Well, I got rid of the excess weight in both senses.. him, and the weight on my body, and I don’t miss either! hehe
As far as personal life goes - I’m dating a great guy, spending lots of time with my awesome friends, and just loving life in general! I put a deposit down on my mini season with the Houston Aeros, and next year I have a season ticket to Broadway Across America for Austin.. hey, the shows are better! I’ll get to see Rent, Legally Blonde, Avenue Q, Spamalot, and Wicked! Great lineup! :) The one I’m really interested in for Houston is Spring Awakening! My visit to New York made me fall in love with the theater and going to see all of these great shows! If I had more time and money in New York, I would have gone to see a show every night!
I am also going to a great church now, that I found through my boyfriend. It is a very spirit led church, and I feel at home there. So, I think my search is over for a new church!
Well, it’s almost time to leave work, so I guess I should get back to it for awhile!
Hope all is well with you!Hugs to all!Laurie