Las Vegas Freedom

Last weekend the hubs and I went on a four day trip to Vegas to catch up with some old friends who were there to renew their wedding vows with Elvis. It was a great weekend. We saw a show, gambled a little bit, laughed our butts off at the Elvis wedding chapel, reconnected with our old friends, drank and ATE.


And I have to say that the eating part was more enjoyable than I even imagined. This is the first time in a long time that I've gone out on this kind of a trip without a list of food restrictions, without blood sugar swings, without guilt about being so fat and without fear of gaining weight.

I just ate my portion of what I enjoyed, and enjoyed it.

It was a freeing feeling, one I haven't felt in a very very long time. When temptation came I didn't hold back. One day I had 8oz of truffle fries for lunch. One day I ate two macaroons from the Thomas Kellar bakery. I had wine. I had honey roasted peanuts. I had a pineapple ginger mojito. I had a biscuit with gravy.

And it was all great, and it was all very appropriately portioned and I came home down one pound.

My dieticians would say to proceed with that kind of eating with caution of course, because I will slow down my weight loss....but this was vacation right? And like most people on vacation I threw caution to the wind because I COULD and I WANTED to.

And the guilt is gone.

Bad Pictures Made Better

Do you ever randomly run across a really really bad picture of yourself that shocks you? I did yesterday. If this were real life and not the internet, I would tell you to brace yourself and then do a slow reveal so you could gasp outloud. Ready?.....

*GASP* 

Bad outfit, butchy haircut, bad lighting and oh yeah...a lot of extra weight. This is me at a Christmas event in 2010. I had a 3 year old and almost 2 year old at home. This was before my robo-foot ever existed, before I realized I had an acute case of sleep apnea that was keeping  me perpetually tired, before I had ever considered weight loss surgery. And before I ever realized that there would be a solution that offered me permanent hope for the future.

 

And this was me yesterday, down 69 lbs. Not skinny, no...but with much better overall health. Proof that not every bad picture has to stay that way.

6 Month Progress Pic

Jeremy took my picture on our video camera (because our actual camera remains very broken) and it turned out a little out of focus.

Rather than try again...what's better for improving crappy photo quality than an old timey filter? That's what made Instagram famous right?

 So enjoy, my retro lookin' 6 month picture.

After- October 2013 (6 months post op), 69 lbs lost

Before- March 2013

Aside From Weight- Some Other Changes

I realize that I haven't kept up with this blog they way that I had originally intended to, but I figure that's okay. The fact that I'm spending less time sitting at my computer is a good thing right?

I am currently at 6.5 months post-surgery and teetering right on 70lbs lost. Aside from looking better, I'm feeling more different all the time. I still attribute a large portion of my extra energy to my C-pap machine, which I promise to write about soon.

But aside from a smaller waist band, other things have happened to my body, like...

-- Breakouts on my skin have improved.

--I get tired much less easily. Again, I attribute a lot of this to my amazing c-pap machine. Aka, Mommy's best friend. 

--My long time battle with blood sugar swings seems to be mostly controlled. I suffer from very little low blood sugar feelings like I used to. 

--According to my dentist my gums are healthier, which I attribute to the lack of diet coke. 

--My menstrual cycles have been a little strange lately which lead me to go see my doc. She said that's a pretty normal thing for bariatric patients due to major hormonal shifts. Nothing that some bc pills can't regulate. 

--My back is vastly improved. I have an old back injury that I kind of thought would always be there. Maybe it will but carrying less weight has made a HUGE difference. And every time I see my chiro (every other week) he showers me with praise regarding how much I've helped my body. 

--Surprisingly, I'm even noticing better bladder control which is something I've had trouble with since my second child was born...the 10 pounder. I even had my bladder tested a couple of years ago, which was one of the crazier experiences of my adult life. I didn't realize that the weight was adding so much extra pressure.

--My hair is a little thinner, but nothing too crazy. Thankfully it was thick to begin with. The stranger thing is that it is laying straight more easily than it has in years, instead of being frizzy and curly mess. 

--I have hardly any swelling with my robo-foot. I don't whether to attribute that to the passage of time since foot surgery or less weight pressure on the hardware. Probably both! 

I wouldn't say that I'm the perfect picture of health, but I am much much closer to it than I was a year ago right now. And that makes everything I've gone through so so worth it.