If they tell you it doesn't work, it's because they are doing it wrong!

1 year after surgery! Whohoo! Man it feels like it was just yesterday, I still can't believe how much weight I lost. And how different I look. Lot of people say it didn't work for them. Well the things it's this is definelty just a tool. If you not going to give up soda, alcohol, and fats, then of course you will fail. Many people have body pain, like I do. And cannot excersise but, if you eat good you can still loose weight. I will share some of my secrets in another post. I have Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, degerative disks and knees. Carpal tunnel, and asthma. Severe depression, but I have made it! Come back to check out how I still did it. I wish I could have done more but, I know my limitations. I haven't loose more weight for 3 months but I will loose more. I will reach 160 before summer! 

10.5 months.... Update!

As you might of read before, your life gets very busy after loosing 100 pounds. It feels like the weight was holding me back. It's an awesome feeling. However it's not all smiles and dreamy flower patch skipping in the rain. 

I've stopped throwing up a lot. I still cannot eat burgers without getting sick, I can now eat about 3 homemade tacos with mostly lettuce. I LOVE TACOS!!!!

One thing I found out recently it's that I developed a condition that wasn't told to me called "reactive hypoglycemia". Basically it's that when I eat sugars my body process it so fast that my actual glucose drops so fast that I get tired, sleepy and most of the time I pass out. I try not to eat sugars when I'm out alone ;) 

I lost my taste for some of my favorite foods like sea food!!!!!!!!! :( I don't even care for shrimp anymore and I was an avid shrimp fest customer. Another thing that makes me get super sick and puke it's Chinese take out. 

I can eat steamed rice and basically anything that it's baked or boiled or steamed. Absolutely no fried food! I will never ever have fried food again. For one its horrible for me and two anything to oily makes me sick. 

I'm not perfect, I have a weakness ; sweets. Therefore I try to stay with sugar free options, however I don't eat to much of this, it gives me horrible gas...just saying. 

I'm struggling with loose skin but i manage with cover ups for my saggy arms. 

Also my lupus it's ruining my life. I'm  thinner now but I can't do a lot of things I want mainly because I feel like I'm going to break a bone. 

Oh talking about bones reminded me about the coccyx problem. My tail bone hurts when I sit for more than 15 minutes. I barely had any butt before surgery now I'm flat back there. I'm top heavy and I wish my fat would distribute better. STILL A 115 pounds lighter!!!!! Yay me !

I absolutely don't drink ANY carbonated beverages. My fear it's that I will gain weight or fall back in to old habits. That's what keeps me in check. Will do a year update in November. 

Oh, I barely work out, when I do I have to stay in bed for 3 days because of my joint pain and rheumatoid arthritis and the Lupus...  :( 

I still 100%! Behind this surgery, I works differently for everyone, so do research and listen to your doctor!!! 

Look at that chin!

My 9th month Update!

My 9th month Update. Well it has been 9 months since my surgery and Over a year since I started this journey. I have lost a total of 111 pounds. It has been hard, I hit so many stalls. So from 300 pounds I reached 185. That’s a lot. I have to keep reminding myself that’s a lot. Charts and society still says I am obese, and that gets to me sometimes. However, I am 100 plus pounds lighter. I went from size 26 to size 12, that has to count for something. It does counts, but sometimes I forget how hard I have worked to get here. Its like I keep seeing the imperfections. The saggy loose skin, or those 20 pounds that i need to loose to just be “overweight”. Sometimes, I forget that my 10 year old weights 90 pounds and I lost 111, that means I lost in pounds a whole healthy 10 year old (lol).

So to update, my favorite food was American Chinese Food, and now, BLEH, I cannot stand it. It makes me sick eating it and looking at it. The oils are to much for me. (total different story with native Chinese food, which its mostly steam food rice and veggies) I cannot eat anything fried, because I get sick. (it is a good thing because it keeps me away from even trying) Sugar makes me sleepy. Yes, ain't that weird. Anything with 5grams of sugar or more, I go into a “comma” I fall asleep for at least an hour. So I try to stay away from Sugary stuff, I try sugar free and that gives me horrible gas. (can’t win) So I am trying to stay away from sugar free candy and pasties, but its hard since I used to eat sweets all the time for so many years. When the sweet tooth attacks, I discovered Low sugar Frosted Flakes, OMG, my savior. Low sugar versions of my favorites are awesome.

Before I wouldn't wear any clothes that were sleeveless, now, its the same. My under arms are very “droopy” from all the weight lost and all the excess skin. My abdomen its very wrinkly and my inner tights as well. I can feel my rib cage and collar bone, and my hip bones and all my bones for that matter. I no longer have to wear wide shoes, just regular size, my ring size went from size 11 to 8.5 I can wear all bangles and watches.

On another note, since food was my addiction, I have taken on another addiction, Shopping. I have a problem with Online shopping.I keep taking on crafts....

I also developed severe anxiety, I hate going out alone, and I i go into panic when there are to many people around me. (not sure why)

Oh also, you know that doctors usually say “you pain its due to all the weight you are carrying” Well, I truly believe they are wrong. All this weight gone and all my pains from my joints and my back are getting worst. My coccyx bone “tail bone” always hurt when i sit down for short periods of time: that seems to be very common withing people that has had the weight loss surgery. My sleep apnea its relived, but my depression its worst. I feel it creeping in all the time, but I refuse to take more pills. My friend recently suggested to take 5-HTP, so I started to take that yesterday so lets see if it helps. I am dependent of Iron and multiple vitamins for life, and I continue to have to drink 64 ounces of water a day.

The biggest problem its to learn to love my new me. I have to get pass the imperfections and focus on all the good I have. Maybe because of all the years of people putting me down because of my weight even when I wasn't Severely obese, maybe that did something to my perception. But i am working on it, like I always do.

6 months, 102 pounds gone! Updates!

Six Months!!! Yay, half way to my year. Once you become healthier you find out that your life becomes so busy. There is so much more energy flowing through my body, I wake up around 8am, and stay up all day doing different things. When I was much bigger, I used to wake up sometimes as late as 2pm, unless i had to work, and even then I always requested night shift, because i couldn't wake up early because i never get enough sleep.

There are so many things that I enjoy now. I love getting dress up and putting on makeup to go anywhere outside the house. That's how i used to be when i was in high school. It is fun to have the self esteem to do things outside your home. I cant wait to wear a bathing suit. I want to own at least, 5 different ones. I can wear jewelry I couldn't wear before, because my neck was to big or my wrist were to fat. I love shopping now. I love doing things, I love talking about my weight and about all the changes that are happening within me. I see that people notice me more. In part it is sad because, you realize how shallow the world is. But, it is OK. I still me. I still enjoy playing video games, watch super heroes movies and scary movies. I am a geek that loves fashion that's all.  He are some before and afters =)

I still have a long way to come from 296, I am now 194, that's 102 pounds gone! That's a 10th grader gone out of my body =P  

My realistic goal weight it's 150, my ideal weight it's 130. When I reach 150, i will consider that a miracle. I am fine right now. I could stop loosing weight today, as long as I never gain those 100 pounds again I will be happy with myself. I do have a lot of loose skin, that I'm working with. That's a lot of weight just hanging out of me, that cost a lot of money to remove. Money I DO NOT have. But I think I can work on it, and at least diminish it a little bit. I am moving in 7 days to the south of US, and I will be closer to the beach and very nice weather most of the year, so I believe all the sun, and warmth will do me some good.

I will update again when I move and I reach 180 pounds. BTW, I realize that every time, a week before my menstraul period, I get very hungry for sweets. Since I cannot have sweets, I eat some Weight Watchers Creme Cakes. Those are yummy just  9g of sugar per cake. I also like The Belvita Soft Baked cookies. As far as protein, I been having the hardest time. Specially because protein it is so expensive and working with a small budget, and trying to get protein that you actually like it is hard so I recently Fount Atkins Mocha Latte Protein. It is Awesome! 

In another note. Do you remember why I started this journey? Well my brother is back in the hospital again. Result that he does not want to get this surgery done. He has put on more weight and he is very sick. They had put a trachea tube on him and now its barely working. He still cant breath at night, he refuses to go to doctors, as a matter of fact he has not gone to a doctor in 8 months. I have talk to him, I have show him what this surgery can do for him, he just don't want to do it. He says he can do it without the surgery, but he also doesn't try to do it. Sometimes, I think he just wants to die. I had a deep conversation with a family member the other day, and I realize. All i can do its give advice. An adult need their own motivations to do things and they have to make it happen on their own. Just because something works out for me, doesn't mean that other people will want to do it. They need to WANT it. I really hope they if he comes out out of this one, it becomes a wake up call for him and, maybe, just maybe I can have my brother back like he used to be. 

4.5 Months and counting

This is my second attempt at this blog because it seems that my original got deleted some how. 

It seems like forever since I posted anything about my surgery.  It has been 4 months and half since I undergo this procedure. I'm about to tell you my personal experience so far. This doesn't mean that it will be the same for you or for someone else because everyone is different. But this are my personal experiences. I did tons of research before this surgery, so here it goes...

I'm going to star from January seen that's where I left off. Giving up my addiction of food have sprout other addictions. I am addicted to shopping. I will find anything to buy. I'm addicted to crafts and selling on Ebay. Mostly shopping because any money I make I spend it right off. It doesn't help that I don't have a steady paycheck and I'll explain why. I started a job after as a security guard it lasted a week. I was constantly tired and I had massive anxiety. I didn't want to go out into the world. I even got a prescription for the anxiety. I had to leave that job, It wasn't for me. I couldn't perform it. I recently started to sell on Ebay. And I feel at peace, I get to sell and buy, which are two things that I love. 

Eating has been a learning experience for me. I basically had to learn how to ear all over again. I had to learn to chew and wait to drink and pace myself. No matter how hungry I am, my stomach lets me know it is enough. I get a horrible pain if I eat even one spoon to much. When something doesn't agree with me, It wont digest. I will be in pain until i puke. It is horrible. Puking has become a normal for me. Not every time but when something doesn't agree with me, the only way to get rid of it is by letting it out. I do not force it out, I happens on its own.  I have even named my pouch, HE'S name is KEITH. =P 

Yes Keith is not a nice tummy. Sometimes I think he has a mind of its own. 

Other things that have change are my toe nails, I get to paint them EVERY week, because i can reach my own toes!!

I cross my legs everywhere I go. It's lovely. My daughter and me fight over clothes, because i fit on my 13 year old clothes. Her and me are going into a exercise  plan, that we agreed on.

Also my taste buds have change. I need very flavorful food in order to satisfied my pallet. I hit a lot of stalls, because I forget to eat or not hungry a key thing with this surgery is that you HAVE to eat at least 3 times a day to promote weight loss, If you don't, you don't loose weight. 

If you HAVE ANY, ANYTHING ANY QUESTION whatsoever, Please shoot me an email , I will answer you! EMAIL ME! 

Most of the time I do not feel hunger ( i am listing all this as i remember) I had a beautiful blog, in chronological order but it got deleted, so I need to remember what I wrote, and If I forget something I will add it on my other posts. 

Also, if you are thinking about this surgery or went through this surgery and want to join a secret Facebook group please send me an email with your email and name and I will sent you and invite ( no one in the outside world can see the group or its members, It is by invite only. 

December, always a hard month for any diet.

December was a busy month. The holidays are always hard on any diet. There was so much food, that I wanted to eat but if I ate it I would get sick. I wish there was a surgery to remove that from my brain too. The desires for food were really intense. I wanted cake, and sweets, but I knew if I had them I would just get sick. I ate some rice, and puke it. For some reason I  can tolerate chips, which its horrible for me and I have to make sure I choose healthier version of the regular chips. I am so weak for chips. Despite the weakness for chips I lost 20 pounds in the month of December. My major problem is that I have is that i eat too fast, i fail at chewing really good, but them i puke. I am trying to work on my chewing to a paste consistency, but the texture of the food inside my mouth bothers me. The paste consistency makes me want to puke.

Healthy food is expensive. I dont know why, but when I look at prices everything that is better for me is always more expensive, but since I eat less everything equals to the same. Everyone in my house has lost weight because we have to eat healthier versions, so this surgery has affected everyone. I am not going to sugar coated it, it is hard. You get sick if you don't do what you supposed to do, and sometimes you get sick just because... I named my stomach pouch Keith. He has an attitude problem. So whenever something doesn't agree with me, I say "Keith doesn't like it" .

My journey has just begun, and I have to keep reminding myself, that it took 30 years to get this heavy, its going to take time to get skinny. But my sense of instant gratification really messes with me. There are times when i get mad if i don't loose any pounds for the week. But I have to stop myself from that and be happy I don't have to take blood pressure medications, and realize that it takes time.

In July i was 286 pounds, before surgery I was 256, and now i am 236, I lost 50 pounds in 6 months, and I am only one month post op. I should be happy, but sometimes I have to remind myself of all my hard work.