Here's the nitty gritty on what my body looks like fifteen months post-surgery. Photo montage over 15 months, and a video of what I look like today. Enjoy! Jo
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
15 Month Update: Top 10 Things I've Learned
Hi all! Wow, can't believe it's been 15 months already. Holding steady at 143 lbs, down from 250.4 in May 2012 when I had surgery. I've learned a lot from the process so far (with much more to learn I'm sure!), and put together a bit of a Top 10 Things I've Learned list. I put the summary below, but you can watch the video for the details and commentary. Hope you're well! Gastricsleeve4me (aka "Jo")
- Bad habits won't change with surgery alone.
- You can regress at any time.
- A bad day won't hurt, but a bad week will!
- The honeymoon doesn't end when you reach your desired weight - and the period when you start to maintain is a critical one.
- Exercise matters. Maybe not for weight loss, but DEFINITELY for maintenance.
- You will lose weight. You will also lose your hair and have saggy skin. Sorry.
- Losing weight doesn't make you successful. Keeping weight off for 50 years does.
- If you're feeding your emotions, you'd better have a plan for dealing with it.
- Surgery and rapid dramatic weight loss is traumatic for your body.
- You need a team. Really.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
38 Week Update
Time for an update! Let's start with the stats...
Surgery day (May 21, 2012): 250.4
Monthly (e.g., every 4 weeks)
Week 4: 226.1 (24.3 lbs month/24.3 lbs total)
Week 8: 211.8 (14.3 lbs month/38.6 lbs total)
Week 12: 201.3 (10.5 lbs month/49.1 total)
Week 16: 189.5 (11.8 lbs month/60.9 total)
Week 20: 178.9 (10.6 lbs month/71.5 total)
Week 24: 168.9 (10 lbs month/81.5 total)
Week 28: 160.3 (8.6 month/90.1 total)
Week 32: 160.3 (0 month/90.1 total)
Week 36: 151.9 (8.4 month/98.5 total)
Recent Weigh-ins
Week 37 (Feb 4): 151.7
Week 37.5 (Feb 7): 148.4 Passed the 100 lb mark and 37 1/2 weeks!! About 8.5 months after surgery.
Week 38: 148.7 (oops...got excited and gained .3 lbs)
1 week weight loss: 3 lbs
Total weight loss: 101.7 lbs
Obviously a big post this time since I finally passed the 100 lb mark after dancing near it for a few weeks. After a month of not losing (but not gaining!) around the holidays, I was so excited to see a 8.4 lb loss in the four weeks following returning to work post-new years. And 2 weeks later I'm down another 3 lbs so the loss continues, even though I've not really been tracking too closely. That said, I've been following my routines with eating, continuing to run for 20+ minutes three times a week training for a 5K, and lifting weights with my boyfriend 2-3 times a week on top of that. My body is definitely reaping the benefits.
Check out my video for a body shot and hear me talk about my recent visit to the nutritionist and "goal weight". Later! Jo
Surgery day (May 21, 2012): 250.4
Monthly (e.g., every 4 weeks)
Week 4: 226.1 (24.3 lbs month/24.3 lbs total)
Week 8: 211.8 (14.3 lbs month/38.6 lbs total)
Week 12: 201.3 (10.5 lbs month/49.1 total)
Week 16: 189.5 (11.8 lbs month/60.9 total)
Week 20: 178.9 (10.6 lbs month/71.5 total)
Week 24: 168.9 (10 lbs month/81.5 total)
Week 28: 160.3 (8.6 month/90.1 total)
Week 32: 160.3 (0 month/90.1 total)
Week 36: 151.9 (8.4 month/98.5 total)
Recent Weigh-ins
Week 37 (Feb 4): 151.7
Week 37.5 (Feb 7): 148.4 Passed the 100 lb mark and 37 1/2 weeks!! About 8.5 months after surgery.
Week 38: 148.7 (oops...got excited and gained .3 lbs)
1 week weight loss: 3 lbs
Total weight loss: 101.7 lbs
Obviously a big post this time since I finally passed the 100 lb mark after dancing near it for a few weeks. After a month of not losing (but not gaining!) around the holidays, I was so excited to see a 8.4 lb loss in the four weeks following returning to work post-new years. And 2 weeks later I'm down another 3 lbs so the loss continues, even though I've not really been tracking too closely. That said, I've been following my routines with eating, continuing to run for 20+ minutes three times a week training for a 5K, and lifting weights with my boyfriend 2-3 times a week on top of that. My body is definitely reaping the benefits.
Check out my video for a body shot and hear me talk about my recent visit to the nutritionist and "goal weight". Later! Jo
Sunday, January 6, 2013
My Favorite Foods
It's been over 7 months since surgery and I've learned so much about food. How to cook it, what I like, what's easy, what staples to have, etc. I definitely have built the confidence I needed to know I can live perfectly happy making my own dishes and loving it. This list includes a number of recipes, staples, and more that I find myself returning to again and again. Hope you enjoy!
Protein Shakes
I still do a protein shake just about every morning. Nutritionally, I still swear by Isopure powder (I prefer creamy vanilla). However, sometimes I want different flavors so I reach for Syntrax Nectar in Kiwi Strawberry or Chocolate Truffle. Lately, I've been doing ready to drink shakes. My go-to items are Muscle Milk Light Chocolate, EAS AdvantEDGE Carb Control, or Oh Yeah!
Breakfast
When I first get up, I drink a shake and take my vitamins. But around 10 AM or so I'll eat "breakfast". I'm a fan of Fage Yogurt. If I'm home, I'll eat plain and add Torani sugar-free raspberry syrup because the calorie and sugar content are WAY better than the flavored ones. But if I eat flavored, flavored Fage is freaking awesome (I like honey!) because the "flavoring" comes in a little side container and you can just eat a little of it and save yourself some calories and sugar. Lately, I''m totally addicted to ricotta pancakes from theworldaccordingtoeggface.com and spread it with a little bit of almond butter or PB2 mixed with water.
Meals
Sunday is pretty much cooking day. I make up a bunch of stuff for the week. My favorite recipes typically involve Mexican food and can be found on my Solid Foods page. As far as prepared items and staples, here's a few faves:
There are plenty of snacks that I've tried that could be considered healthy in moderation, but if I stray from protein-based snacks I really can't control myself. Nuts and any sort of carb-based stuff (Pop Chips, Kay's Naturals, etc.) just has a hold on me that I don't like so I try to stay away. So I pretty much keep it simple; cheese, hummus, beef jerky, or yogurt.
Protein Shakes
I still do a protein shake just about every morning. Nutritionally, I still swear by Isopure powder (I prefer creamy vanilla). However, sometimes I want different flavors so I reach for Syntrax Nectar in Kiwi Strawberry or Chocolate Truffle. Lately, I've been doing ready to drink shakes. My go-to items are Muscle Milk Light Chocolate, EAS AdvantEDGE Carb Control, or Oh Yeah!
Breakfast
When I first get up, I drink a shake and take my vitamins. But around 10 AM or so I'll eat "breakfast". I'm a fan of Fage Yogurt. If I'm home, I'll eat plain and add Torani sugar-free raspberry syrup because the calorie and sugar content are WAY better than the flavored ones. But if I eat flavored, flavored Fage is freaking awesome (I like honey!) because the "flavoring" comes in a little side container and you can just eat a little of it and save yourself some calories and sugar. Lately, I''m totally addicted to ricotta pancakes from theworldaccordingtoeggface.com and spread it with a little bit of almond butter or PB2 mixed with water.
Meals
Sunday is pretty much cooking day. I make up a bunch of stuff for the week. My favorite recipes typically involve Mexican food and can be found on my Solid Foods page. As far as prepared items and staples, here's a few faves:
- Salmon burgers
- Baby back pork ribs in a crock pot (seriously - dry rub them and throw them in on low for 6 hours with NO LIQUID. Amazing)
- Chicken Meatballs
- Whole wheat tortillas or flatbread (do your homework in the store and compare carb, calorie, and protein grams by gram of tortilla and pick the best)
- Turkey pepperoni minis
- Buffalo wing sauce (I like Frank's or Archer Farms from Target)
- Chickenless Crispy Tenders (I toss in wing sauce - they're seriously yummy and the perfect sleeve size)
There are plenty of snacks that I've tried that could be considered healthy in moderation, but if I stray from protein-based snacks I really can't control myself. Nuts and any sort of carb-based stuff (Pop Chips, Kay's Naturals, etc.) just has a hold on me that I don't like so I try to stay away. So I pretty much keep it simple; cheese, hummus, beef jerky, or yogurt.
33 week update
Holy crap. 33 weeks. It has absolutely FLOWN by and I couldn't be happier. Let me get right down to business. You can check out the video to hear more about my weight loss to date.
Surgery day: 250.4
Total weight loss: 92.4 lbs
Apparently I'm at week 33, not 34 - forgive my video reference to week 34, lol. I didn't talk about it in the video, but about my calorie intake...I stopped tracking back a couple of months ago. Recently, I've started periodically tracking a couple times a week. I've been taking in about 1500 calories a day and maintaining with regular exercise, but as you see above, the weight loss has pretty much stopped this month. I can tell from my history that 900-1000 calories will be my sweet spot for kicking the weight loss back in gear. So, that's my target for now. Enjoy the video! Jo
Surgery day: 250.4
One month 226.1 (24.3 lbs month/24.3 lbs total)
Two month: 211.8 (14.3 lbs month/38.6 lbs total)
Three month: 201.3 (10.5 lbs month/49.1 total)
Four month: 189.5 (11.8 lbs month/60.9 total)
Five month: 178.9 (10.6 lbs month/71.5 total)
Six month: 168.9 (10 lbs month/81.5 total)
Seven month: 160.3 (8.6 month/90.1 total)
Eight month: 160.3 (0 month/90.1 total)
Week 33: 158
Six month: 168.9 (10 lbs month/81.5 total)
Seven month: 160.3 (8.6 month/90.1 total)
Eight month: 160.3 (0 month/90.1 total)
Week 33: 158
1 week weight loss: 2.3 lbs
Apparently I'm at week 33, not 34 - forgive my video reference to week 34, lol. I didn't talk about it in the video, but about my calorie intake...I stopped tracking back a couple of months ago. Recently, I've started periodically tracking a couple times a week. I've been taking in about 1500 calories a day and maintaining with regular exercise, but as you see above, the weight loss has pretty much stopped this month. I can tell from my history that 900-1000 calories will be my sweet spot for kicking the weight loss back in gear. So, that's my target for now. Enjoy the video! Jo
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