Three months out

One thing I forgot to  mention in the last post was it's been three months since surgery. Doesn't really feel like it!

Here are a couple comparison pics, day of surgery and then from last week's pictures.

I can definitely see a difference there. Mostly in my face, but also in how the clothes fit.

Week 13

So much for weekly postings right? I'm sorry, it's been nearly a month since my last post, but here we go with a new one and some pretty cool news.

First off it's been a rather frustrating month for weight loss, which consequently is why I hadn't posted. I felt frustrated about the small losses, and one week the small gain.

For about the last month, I've been on prednisone, trying to maintain my gout so that I would be able to go back onto the Allopurinol, which I can't take during a gout attack. I'm finally back on that and going off of the prednisone.

If you've never been on prednisone you're very lucky. It makes you ravenous. Seriously ravenous. I would eat, and still be hungry, which considering the surgery I had, is ridiculous. I pretty much felt like this:

We didn't' have any watermelon or cake, but if we did it wouldn't have stood a chance. Now despite being hungry all the time, I wasn't actually eating that much, simply because I can't. I don't have the room for it. Yes I was eating more, but not enough to negate the calorie deficit that I had. I would have to consume over 2500 calories a day just to maintain my weight. If I was consuming 1500 I'd have been surprised.Even  still that gives me a 7000 a week deficit, which basically equals a 2 pound loss (3500 calories burnt equal one pound). Talked to my doctor this week and yes, Prednisone not only makes you hungry, but it also makes losing weight harder, even if you control the hunger.

Despite all that, I can't be too mad at Prednisone, it made that evil bitch  Gout leave. So I'm ok if Prednisone stayed around a bit longer than I'd have liked as it keeps her away.

My weight loss over the last month has looked like this:

Gained a pound, lost two, and then finally lost ten. The week prior to the gain was only a two pound loss also. Quite a drop from the numbers I had been seeing. I know I was due for a plateau, and as long as I'm losing I should be happy. 

Last week I did have a ten pound loss, which is super exciting. One it's a nice loss after the weeks of crap, two it put  me under 357. When I had my first appointment with my surgeon back in January I weighed 457. This means I've officially lost 100 lbs. 

Pretty crazy right?! That's HUGE. I should be ecstatic. I'm not. When  I look in a mirror, I still don't see the loss. I can feel it, but I have to be looking at side by side pictures to really see it. I ended up doing a Google search, to see what 100 lbs really looks like.

It looks like that. That is 100 lbs of butter. A bit more impressive that way no?

Anyway, I'm going to try to be a bit more contentious about updating. Even when it's a bad week. Only posting on the good weeks does me a disservice and is completely counter productive to why I made this blog in the first place. The bad is just as much a part of the journey as the good is.

On  that note, here are this week's pics and stats.

Current Microgoal: 325

Week 09

Nothing out of the ordinary this week, so I'm gonna jump right into the weekly update.

Also this week, I found an older pic of me (like a year old or so) this would have been me at about my  heaviest.

That's Lady, btw. She's our 100lbs German Shepherd.Just for reference on how big we both are. 

I almost forgot! I did have one small Non-scale victory this week. I had to go get an x-ray because I'm still having some gout issues and in the waiting area they had these:

Just a chair right? Nope. A chair with arms. Before my surgery I wouldn't have been able to sit in that chair without doing the fat dance. The fat dance is where you drop one of your hips down first, then as you let gravity do its thing your other hip falls into place and kind of wedges you in the chair. This is even more uncomfortable than it sounds. Further you run the risk of the chair refusing to let go of your body when you get up in a very cartoon-like fashion. Not this time! That chair is my bitch.

Current Micro-goal: 325

Three things

There are a few things I want to talk about today.

First, food.

Being as protein is so important now, I'm always looking for things with some extra protein in it. This lead me to discover Cheerios Protein.

Cheerios Protein. As in with protein?

However it is deceiving. Sneaky Cheerios. Turns out it actually has more fat and sugar than Apple Jacks. Wtf right?

I suppose the saving grace is that the Cheerios have more protein. I shall continue to my search for protein rich foods.

Secondly, more college stuff.

My ultimate educational goal is to get my MA in English so I can teach at a community college. The colleges I applied to don't require a foreign language for a BA, which is friggin awesome. However, after researching the MA programs at my universities I'll need to take a foreign language.

Fuckery indeed. Turns out, that the English graduate student must demonstrate the ability to read a text in a foreign language and then translate it into English.

This does not please me. I've taken Italian and Spanish and I just don't do well with foreign languages. However, if I want my MA, at least one in English, I'm going to have to figure out how to remedy that.

Now I'm considering a minor in a foreign language, most likely Spanish as it will be much easier to find people to speak Spanish with to keep it fresh. Whereas Italian, which is what I'd prefer to learn, I'd have to go out of my way to find people to speak it with.

Third, weekly update.

The pounds keep on coming off, which is the whole point. I'm starting to look into ways to be more active, I'd love to get a membership at the YMCA so I can swim. If by chance you wanna sponsor that let me know.

Also, I'm trying a new look for the weekly stats.

The screenshot is from an ap called, Monitor Your Weight.

College Applications

Last week I applied to transfer to four universities. It's very exciting. School is actually one of the reasons I had my surgery. I didn't want to have to go through at university what I went through at Hancock. The process went a bit like this:

1. See which classes I still need to take.
2. See which classrooms said classes are in.
3. Sign up for classes I know have desks that I comfortably fit in.
4. Scout out classrooms where I am unsure.

Pretty ridiculous right? It's understandable why I would want to avoid this. I'd like to be able to sign up for any class and not have to suffer through an uncomfortable semester. I had to do that twice at Hancock. Once was for Film 101, where I originally signed up for it because it was in a room that I knew I'd fit in, however it got moved to a room that sucked. The second class was Art 101, which was in the same classroom. That class had those seats with the desktops that swing up and then go in front of you, proving enough writing space only if you are in second grade. 

Now with the pounds coming off and finding myself at a size I haven't seen in almost ten years, I feel very hopeful for my future. I've always wanted to get my degrees but I've been afraid to transfer because of the seating issue and just because it would be someplace so far out of my comfort zone that I'd be nervous and a bit of a wreck all the time. Now the latter could just be me projecting my insecurities onto an unknown  situation, but was likely fairly accurate. 

Anyway, the schools I applied to are, in order of preference:

1. San Jose State University
2. Cal State Fullerton
3. Cal State Channel Islands
4. Cal State East Bay

SJSU and Fullerton are my top picks because they also have MA programs and ideally I'd like to do grad school where I get my bachelor's. I know I don't have to but I think having a rapport with the faculty can only help. East Bay also has a master's program however it's on the quarter system, whereas Channel Islands is semester with no graduate program. 

Now comes the waiting for the acceptance letters (or rejection). 

Non-Scale Victory (NSV)

I went and saw Guardians of the Galaxy today with my friend Vincent. I know, I know, better late than never I suppose. We were driving home and I had a bit of an epiphany.

See riding in Vincent's car used to be a bit like this:

In case you can't tell, I'm sitting with my hands resting on my stomach. I'm not the best artist, sorry. Anyway, now it's more like this:

Note that this is not proportional. I can still rest my hands on my stomach but it's now easier to rest them in my lap, I actually have to make an effort to keep them on my stomach. 

This was exciting.

Week 7

So I've been totally slacking on keeping up with this the last two weeks, so much so that I didn't even take pictures last week. Here's to getting back on track!

Full report!

I'm still having a gout flare up. Yes, from the one I posted about nearly three weeks ago. It's not a full on attack, More like a dull ache. I can function pretty well for the most part but I'm kinda gimpy.

Last week I saw my doctor and he put me on prednisone, that seemed to  help but it didn't get rid of the ache altogether.

I go back tomorrow for a follow up and we'll see how that goes. This is getting really irritating, I need to exercise and only being able to limp makes it a pain. Literally.

However I do have some good news. I met my first micro-goal of 375lbs!

Super exciting right?

Last week I've also started a full transition back to solid foods.

Granted I'm not eating stuff like that, but I did have a small bite of a sandwich last week and it was delicious. Seriously. Sooo delicious. Although for some reason beef and pork don't sit well. I've been afraid to try eggs too. I've heard that eggs are just one of those foods that don't sit very well in the beginning.

Time for the pictures and stats!

Sorry for the pictures being all smoky. There was an... incident in the oven and consequently the oven was a smoky mess. Didn't realize there was that much coming out of this door though!

Highest Weight - 457 (BMI: 63.7)

Current Weight - 372 (BMI: 51.9)

Goal Weight - 180 (BMI: 25.1)

New Micro-goal: 325

Completed Goals

375lbs: 10/07/2014

One more awesome thing.

I no longer own a pair of pants that will stay up without a belt.

Week 05 - Late

Being as I'm late posting this I'm just going to put up last week's pictures and stats.

Highest Weight - 457 (BMI: 63.7)

Current Weight - 386 (BMI: 53.8)

Goal Weight - 180 (BMI: 25.1)

Current Micro-goal: 375

Gout Attack

One of the measures that determines if a person qualifies for bariatric surgery is their comorbidities. These are chronic conditions that exist in the patient along with the obesity. The most common are diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. These are all also considered lifestyle diseases, as in they can all be treated with a change in lifestyle (most but not all). 

Now considering how large I was when I started in January 460lbs, my obesity alone is enough to justify the surgery. In addition to my extremely high BMI I also have a couple of these cormorbidities. Now surprisingly enough I wasn't diabetic, despite it running in the family, better still I wasn't even pre-diabetic.

My two CMs are high blood pressure and gout. Now the BP has been managed with medication and hasn't been an issue, the gout eventually was as well after I had a flare up in April.

If you've never had gout, consider yourself very lucky. Seriously. I can't emphasize enough how much gout sucks. I actually had a flare up this week and it was fucking awful.

How a gout flare up works for me:

Day 1:

Light ache begins in my foot (because that's where my gout attacks happen).  The gout has arrived and it has a message for me:

Shocked at Gout's sudden arrival I try to break it to it gently that I don't think we're good for each other.

I go to sleep with a dull ache in my foot that night and hope that Gout got the message

Day 2+:

Gout did not get the message. She has insisted on staying and throwing a rage fit in my foot. Clearly she doesn't handle rejection well.

I can no longer flex my foot without being in excruciating pain, my foot is swollen as though I have a shellfish allergy and have convinced myself that if I remove it from the shell it's all going to be OK. Forget walking, I'd rather be actively mauled by a Honey Badger than deal with the party that Gout is throwing right now.

Sometime in this I manage to get my hands on some pain medication. It used to be a heroic dose of Ibuprofen and some Norco/Percocet. That would help usually. However now that I've had my surgery I'm no longer allowed to take muscle relaxers, so Ibuprofen is out. However my lovely doctor did prescribe me something to combat the gout and a trip to the ER resulted in some Percocet. The combination of the two seems to have helped.

I am currently on day five and Gout has left for the most part. There is some residual pain and I'm still limping guy. Though it's ok, I can deal with cleaning up that broad's mess. Hopefully it'll be a long time before she tries to be friends again.

D

Week 4

Today I am exactly 4 weeks out from surgery.

I still don't feel that different in terms of my weight. I've lost 26 pounds so far (35 if you count what was gained in the hospital) and I I don't notice much of a difference in what I see either. My face is a bit slimmer and I know I've lost some inches around the middle. It just still feels the same for the most part. I know it'll take losing about 50 or more before I really notice it. I'm ok with that, I know this isn't a quick thing and anything worth doing takes time.

On a more disgusting note I think I had my first dumping today. According to the Mayo Clinic, dumping is:

Dumping syndrome is a group of symptoms that are most likely to develop if you've had surgery to remove all or part of your stomach, or if your stomach has been surgically bypassed to help lose weight. Also called rapid gastric emptying, dumping syndrome occurs when the undigested contents of your stomach move too rapidly into your small bowel. Common symptoms include abdominal cramps, nausea and diarrhea.

Most people with dumping syndrome experience symptoms soon after eating. In others, symptoms may occur one to three hours after eating. Some people experience both early and late symptoms.

Dumping syndrome is managed by adjusting your diet. In more-serious cases of dumping syndrome, you may need medications or surgery.

Now, based of that and what I've heard from other people, it was a very mild dump. I didn't get chills or feel feverish, not did it turn into some kind of ass disaster. What it did do was just come up not long after I ate a few bites of my lunch; and lunch was just two chicken tenders breaded in panko and baked. Left overs from last night. Had one last night and it went down fine, had zero issues with it so I didn't think I would today. I didn't even eat all of it, just two small bites. It's ok though, I'll  just stick to mostly liquids with one solid meal a day. Which is a great way to get my protein in, plus the weight goes faster.

This week's pictures are a bit different. Two are side-by-side comparisons with the pictures that I took the morning of surgery.

Now if I could just get my photographer to warn me before she takes the pictures maybe my eyes wouldn't be closed in so many of them.

Highest Weight - 457 (BMI: 63.7)

Current Weight - 393 (BMI: 54.8)

Goal Weight - 180 (BMI: 25.1)

Current Micro-goal: 375

Loss Since surgery: 26 pounds, about an average two year old

Week 3 - Milestone!

So I'm a bit late with the posting this week, but life happens. I do have some very big news though.

That's right. I'm officially out of the 400's. Not far out, but out nonetheless, and that is very exciting. I haven't been under 400 in at least four years. Next micro-goal is 375.

This week I've been transitioning to soft foods, essentially things I can mush with a fork, I haven't been too adventurous with my food selections, so far my favorite is sliced turkey breast and string cheese. Four pieces of turkey, two pieces of string cheese, comes out to four ounces. For most of you that won't seem like much, but for me it's very filling and that takes about half an hour to forty-five minutes to eat.

This week I also have my first NSV (Non-Scale Victory). When driving the truck I would always have the tilt on the wheel as far back as it could go. Turns out I don't need it that far back anymore, It's tilted down so it's facing the driver directly and I still have enough room between my stomach and the wheel.

Other than that news I'm still feeling good, have lots of energy. I want to start swimming and the gym near our house has a pool, I'm going to try to figure out how to get a membership there. Maybe if I walk Lady everyday Mom will cover it or something.

Time for this week's pics!

Highest Weight - 457 (BMI: 63.7)

Current Weight - 399 (BMI: 55.6)

Goal Weight - 180 (BMI: 25.1)

Current Microgoal: 375

Loss Since surgery: 20 pounds, an automobile tire

Total loss: 58 pounds (I've lost a 7 year old) a 5000 BTU air conditioner

That's it for now, thanks for stopping by!

Food

This week has gone by really well. I'm still technically on my mushy food diet, but I tried some chicken earlier in the week and it went down fine. Granted I chewed it until it was practically mush, which is kind of a new thing. I've stuck with the mush diet for the most part though. Tomorrow I can actually start transitioning to soft foods and I'm looking forward to that. I'll be glad to actually chew something again.

I did find this recipe I want to try. It uses spaghetti squash and makes it into a kind of potato au gratin thing. Only changes I'd make would be to use greek yogurt in place of the sour cream and make sure the cheese it calls for is low fat/fat free. That and remove the onions which removes the need for butter. All good changes.

Post by Natalie Wood.

That's the recipe if you feel like checking it out, but mostly this is so I don't lose it!

Week 2

I tried to stay off the scale this week, I really did. However, not staying off the scaled ended up being good. I noticed that the weight loss slowed down when I didn't get all the water in that I'm supposed to get.

Getting sixty-four ounces of water in a day has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. Essentially it's only four sixteen ounce bottles, which isn't much at all. The issue is I can no longer just chug the bottle like I used to be able to. It takes about an hour to drink a bottle, which means it should just take four hours to drink all the water I need. How hard should that be right? I've started using a kitchen timer in an attempt to remember to drink every ten to fifteen minutes.

This week I'm going to start going to the gym they supply us with. It's not the best equipped but there is a stationary bike I can ride or use the treadmills. They have a small selection of free weights too, but I haven't been cleared to use those, not even the two pound ones; so I'm going to wait on that and just do the cardio.

Anyway, here's this week's pictures.

Highest Weight - 457 (BMI: 63.7)

Current Weight - 406 (BMI: 56.6)

Goal Weight - 180 (BMI: 25.1)

Also, sometime this week I'll be buzzing my head. I usually do I've just been lazy about doing it again.