This week I hit the 90% mark. I have lost 90% of what I officially want to lose, which is to weigh 159, which on the BMI chart is the high end of "normal." I would like to lose maybe another 10, just to have a little cushion (no reverse pun intended) when I go to the doctor's. I always weigh myself in the morning before getting in the shower, and when I go to the doctor it's after food, drinks, clothes, etc... so I always weigh more there.
The other mileston I hit this morning. I have a "6" in the tens digit. I weigh 169. Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am starting to get the "don't get too skinny" comments. Yep, I agree, no thanks. Already, because of my extra skin and plentiful stretch marks (which are EVERYWHERE - legs, arms, stomach, butt, breasts), I am going to probably be very wrinkly. Not interested in reconstructive surgery at this time. Not interested in a "fake belly button" or no belly button. Not interested in the pain and awful recovery. The ONLY thing that is bothering me right now are how my upper thighs look. I may have mentioned this before, but the only way I can describe it is "elephant legs." I don't mean size, I mean the wrinkles, from the skin and stretch marks. I am not sure if I'll be able to find a bathing suit in my size with a long enough skirt to cover it. I haven't done the shopping yet. I am told to try Parisian.
I definitely have to keep track of and watch out for the time before my period. This one was particularly bad. I actually gained a pound, which is a big deal for a weight loss patient. I also one time actually ate two Reese's peanut butter EGGS in one sitting. That was bad (but can I say it was delicious?). But the difference now is instead of blowing it off and forgetting about it, AND eating lots of chocolate every day of the month, I am remembering and I am going to find strategies to stay away, or replace it with something else. But, since then I already lost it and then some, so I am also sure that some of it had to be bloat and stuff like that.
I am exercising more now. Treadmill, weights, exercise videos on Comcast, tried jogging with Julie, parking farther away, running in my classroom during my conference period (to pass papers out), etc.....
Teri wants to do a 5K in the fall. She said there is a "Day of the Dead"' run in some cemeteries of Detroit. You can dress up in Day of the Dead stuff. Sounds like a cool goal to strive toward. She had her surgery Feb. 1st and has already lost 60 pounds. :-)
My next goal is to wear a dress or skirt. Many people say "I never wore jeans at my bigger size." I always wore them. They were ugly and size 26, but I wore them. But I did not wear skirts or dresses. That is my next mission................
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Finally!
Since losing 110 pounds, I finally went out and bought new bras. I had some that have been long gone, not worth donating or passing on, but I had bought some bigger ones that were of really good support and quality from Fashion bug that had never fit me right at my biggest size, so when I lost 20-30 pounds, those fit me and I have been making them last all this time. Fashion Bug is having a Buy Two Get One Free sale, plus I had some coupons, so I went to check them out today. I ended up going from a 44DD to a 40C. I really thought I'd be a 38D, not that it's that much difference but the 40C ended up being the last size I tried on, because I didn't expect it to go that way. I had asked to be measured, the salesperson said okay, but seemed reluctant, and said "I haven't done it in a long time" so I just said that I would try them on. I'm kind of glad I did it that way, so I could judge by looks and comfort, not being ruled by a number and a letter. I ended up buying 6, plus I got a FABULOUS short spring trench coat, size large, and two clearance items, a basic long sleeved shirt and a sweat jacket, both only 4.98 each. I spent $112, which I thought was a really good deal for getting a coat and 6 really good quality bras. Good shopping trip!
Went out to El Charro's with my high school buddies, Amy and Kim, plus our other two friends Darla and MaryJo. I ordered a soft taco and beans, and a sangria/margarita swirl. Had half the drink and some chips and salsa. Ate the beans, then was too full to eat the taco, so I brought it home. Amy's dad was having some medical issues, so she had to leave early. I gave MaryJo some of my old clothes, I put on my new coat and discovered the security tag inside the pocket, so I had to go back to Fashion Bug and have them take it off. It never beeped on the way out, but I beeped on the way in, which was kind of funny.
I found out today that our dear cousin, Uncle Lowell, passed away back in November. He and Aunt Rosie (who is my dad's first cousin) lived in Lake Tahoe and we were very close to them when my parents helped take care of their aging parents. They would come visit, and my parents went out to visit them a few times, even taking me along one time. They had an old station wagon and a great dog named Murphy. They were very down-to-earth people. Aunt Rosie died first (though I am a bad judge at exactly how long ago) and Uncle Lowell was 85 when he died in November. When the doctor told him to get his affairs in order, he lived less than a month after that. May he rest in peace, in the loving arms of Jesus, and joyfully reunited with his beautiful wife.
Tomorrow is Easter, and we are having brunch at Roger's Roost with Glen's parents and Rochelle's family. We will go visit my dad after that and hopefully do an Easter Egg Hunt somewhere in there.
Went out to El Charro's with my high school buddies, Amy and Kim, plus our other two friends Darla and MaryJo. I ordered a soft taco and beans, and a sangria/margarita swirl. Had half the drink and some chips and salsa. Ate the beans, then was too full to eat the taco, so I brought it home. Amy's dad was having some medical issues, so she had to leave early. I gave MaryJo some of my old clothes, I put on my new coat and discovered the security tag inside the pocket, so I had to go back to Fashion Bug and have them take it off. It never beeped on the way out, but I beeped on the way in, which was kind of funny.
I found out today that our dear cousin, Uncle Lowell, passed away back in November. He and Aunt Rosie (who is my dad's first cousin) lived in Lake Tahoe and we were very close to them when my parents helped take care of their aging parents. They would come visit, and my parents went out to visit them a few times, even taking me along one time. They had an old station wagon and a great dog named Murphy. They were very down-to-earth people. Aunt Rosie died first (though I am a bad judge at exactly how long ago) and Uncle Lowell was 85 when he died in November. When the doctor told him to get his affairs in order, he lived less than a month after that. May he rest in peace, in the loving arms of Jesus, and joyfully reunited with his beautiful wife.
Tomorrow is Easter, and we are having brunch at Roger's Roost with Glen's parents and Rochelle's family. We will go visit my dad after that and hopefully do an Easter Egg Hunt somewhere in there.
Monday, April 2, 2012
It's been awhile...
...since I last posted. I have lost a total of 110 pounds, and I am about 3-4 pounds away from my next milestone of 90% weight loss. I am wearing an average size 16 pants, and a large or x-large top. I need to buy some more clothes. Often I put things on and they are just too big on me. My cousin Beth from Arizona sent me a bunch of size 14 clothes, and most are still snug on me, but they are short sleeves and capris, so they will probably be perfect for summer. I am still losing about a half pound per week, but some weeks still more. I eat some junk food now and then, and sometimes it's those weeks that I lose more. I think the body can go into hibernation mode if you eat too few calories all of the time. But I try not too eat a high VOLUME of food, which could stretch out the stomach. That is the key.
I made it through teaching computers. Overall I would say pretty successfully, though not perfectly. The kids were GREAT and we worked together to solve problems and answer questions. This week is spring break. I am working through it, on school work, and on, as much as possible, deep cleaning my house. It is REALLY in need of it.
We just ended our competition dance season. The girls did so very well. I am proud of all of their hard work. Lots of pictures are posted on facebook. Now we are getting prepared for our summer trip to Disney World with the dance team.
That's about it!!!
I made it through teaching computers. Overall I would say pretty successfully, though not perfectly. The kids were GREAT and we worked together to solve problems and answer questions. This week is spring break. I am working through it, on school work, and on, as much as possible, deep cleaning my house. It is REALLY in need of it.
We just ended our competition dance season. The girls did so very well. I am proud of all of their hard work. Lots of pictures are posted on facebook. Now we are getting prepared for our summer trip to Disney World with the dance team.
That's about it!!!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
I'm totally OVER it!
Well, I hit two new milestones, and I pray to never return in that direction! It's been almost 31 weeks since I started the pre-op diet, and I have now lost 75% of my excess weight and (drum roll, please) tadadadadadadadadadadada - bing! I AM NO LONGER "OBESE"!!! I am now officially in the category of "overweight." I only have just over 30 more pounds till I am at the high end of the "normal" range.
I have been exhausted lately, but I do need to go get my bloodwork done. I also need to work out more, mainly for me to de-stress. I've been having some stomach problems now and then. Again, I am wondering if it is the stress more than anything.
We had a great time yesterday driving up to Clarkston, to have the famous macaroni and cheese at the Clarkston Union. It is truly fantastic. And while I had only about 10 penne noodles and some ham, it was exactly what I wanted and it was PERFECT. We had some expiring Blizzard coupons, so we all got one closer to home, I ate some later and there's still at least half left. PLUS, we had some real air-popped popcorn with REAL butter. Again, I didn't eat a lot of it, but what I had was so perfect. I love that foods do not have to be FORBIDDEN (except a couple things that give me problems, but I do not miss them). We watched some movies together and I got some tests checked. So it was a fun AND productive day.
Church today, and we are finally putting away the last of our Christmas stuff.
I have been exhausted lately, but I do need to go get my bloodwork done. I also need to work out more, mainly for me to de-stress. I've been having some stomach problems now and then. Again, I am wondering if it is the stress more than anything.
We had a great time yesterday driving up to Clarkston, to have the famous macaroni and cheese at the Clarkston Union. It is truly fantastic. And while I had only about 10 penne noodles and some ham, it was exactly what I wanted and it was PERFECT. We had some expiring Blizzard coupons, so we all got one closer to home, I ate some later and there's still at least half left. PLUS, we had some real air-popped popcorn with REAL butter. Again, I didn't eat a lot of it, but what I had was so perfect. I love that foods do not have to be FORBIDDEN (except a couple things that give me problems, but I do not miss them). We watched some movies together and I got some tests checked. So it was a fun AND productive day.
Church today, and we are finally putting away the last of our Christmas stuff.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Chicken Nuggets
Restaurant and grocery store chicken nuggets (not real tenders) are made from mechanically separated chicken. They take ALL parts of the chicken, including beak and bones, grind them up, and add ammonia to kill the bacteria, and artificial chicken flavor because it smells so bad, and it's a tube of pink goo that looks like ice cream. That's the "chicken." I saw the picture on facebook. Never again.
Mindless Eating
I am reading a new book my new principal loaned to me. Actually, she was lending it to another teacher, I overheard, said I'd like to borrow it after, but since the principal gave her two books to read, the teacher let me have this one first. It's called "Mindless Eating," and I don't have the name of the author on hand as I write right now, and as it's 6:30 a.m., I don't feel like getting up.
I am about one-third through the book. It is primarily about a lot of scientific studies showing that we humans have many more reasons than hunger to eat. I want to share tidbits of what I read that either surprised me, or confirmed a fact that I already knew. Anything in quotes is a quote from the book, otherwise, just a paraphrase:
p.29 "No one goes to bed skinny and wakes up fat. Most people gain (or lose) weight so gradually they can't really figure out how it happened." Amen.
p.32 If you cut out a regular daily item from your diet, divide the calories in that item by ten, and that's how much you'd potentially lose in a year (one 270 calorie candy bar divided by ten = 27 lb. loss in one year)
p.34 When plating your food, give yourself 20% less than you think you want, but with fruit/vege, give yourself 20% more.
p.45 "Volume trumps calories. We eat the volume we want, not the calories we want." True dat.
p.53 Obese people tend to underestimate how much they eat by 30-40%.
p.54 As items get larger, we underestimate them by a greater margin, doesn't matter skinny or fat. Obese people just tend to eat larger meals more often.
p.56 Here's something I can see both sides to, but I tend to disagree. They suggest pre-plating what you want, not a smaller portion then going back for 2nds and 3rds. I think people tend to get 2nds out of habit, so plating a larger amount from the start spells doom. I tell my girls to take a smaller portion, then decide if they really want more. I never force them to "clean their plate" but I also think that wasting food is, well... a waste. I'd rather they learn to take a smaller portion, and then decide if they really want more, or perhaps have some dessert or a treat a little later, rather than both. Where I think pre-plating is the best for ME is with something like chips. I eat WAY too many, even now, if I eat them from the bag, with the "just one more" syndrome. If I pre-plate chips and dip, then when I'm done, I'm done.
p.59 We consume more when taking food from bigger packages. Also, we eat more if there's a bigger variety. People ate MORE M&M's when there were 10 colors in the bowl instead of 7, or if they received a bigger bag.
p.63 Use a tall skinny glass and small plates/bowls/spoons.
p.70 Serve food in smaller serving bowls and people will take less.
The other thing I disagreed with, but I'm not sure what page, is that they gave the usually suggestions for a restaurant: send the bread basket away, split a meal, but then they gave two suggestions I disagree with. One is "Or order two appetizers instead." Really? Most appetizers are HIGHLY fattening and quite big for one person. The other is, they said "Use the 'Pick Two' rule: Pick two of these - drink, appetizer, dessert." I think that the meal should be included in there, in other words, pick two out of drink, appetizer, meal, dessert. Having two of the others PLUS a meal seems like WAY too much if you are trying to eat in a balanced way.
p.99. "Weight can be inherited, but it can also be contagious." Double amen to that one! I get so aggravated when people say "Cancer runs high in my family, so I'll probably get it, so why should I quit smoking/eating bad/etc.?" Same is true for weight. I could say that I inherited it genetically from my mom and her mom, and while that's partially true, didn't we also see our predecessor shop, cook, their attitude about food/diets/holidays/celebrations/comfort/exercise, etc.? Maybe if I still die of congestive heart failure, it can be at an older age than my mom, or not be plagued with the wide variety of other things that she had that made the last years of her life so miserable. Maybe I won't have to be on so many medications that cause complex side effects and diseases themselves. I am trying to DO something about it, so that even if it might be too late to change some of my health problems that they also had, maybe I can change things for my girls. But I'm hoping it'll change things for me too. :-)
I am about one-third through the book. It is primarily about a lot of scientific studies showing that we humans have many more reasons than hunger to eat. I want to share tidbits of what I read that either surprised me, or confirmed a fact that I already knew. Anything in quotes is a quote from the book, otherwise, just a paraphrase:
p.29 "No one goes to bed skinny and wakes up fat. Most people gain (or lose) weight so gradually they can't really figure out how it happened." Amen.
p.32 If you cut out a regular daily item from your diet, divide the calories in that item by ten, and that's how much you'd potentially lose in a year (one 270 calorie candy bar divided by ten = 27 lb. loss in one year)
p.34 When plating your food, give yourself 20% less than you think you want, but with fruit/vege, give yourself 20% more.
p.45 "Volume trumps calories. We eat the volume we want, not the calories we want." True dat.
p.53 Obese people tend to underestimate how much they eat by 30-40%.
p.54 As items get larger, we underestimate them by a greater margin, doesn't matter skinny or fat. Obese people just tend to eat larger meals more often.
p.56 Here's something I can see both sides to, but I tend to disagree. They suggest pre-plating what you want, not a smaller portion then going back for 2nds and 3rds. I think people tend to get 2nds out of habit, so plating a larger amount from the start spells doom. I tell my girls to take a smaller portion, then decide if they really want more. I never force them to "clean their plate" but I also think that wasting food is, well... a waste. I'd rather they learn to take a smaller portion, and then decide if they really want more, or perhaps have some dessert or a treat a little later, rather than both. Where I think pre-plating is the best for ME is with something like chips. I eat WAY too many, even now, if I eat them from the bag, with the "just one more" syndrome. If I pre-plate chips and dip, then when I'm done, I'm done.
p.59 We consume more when taking food from bigger packages. Also, we eat more if there's a bigger variety. People ate MORE M&M's when there were 10 colors in the bowl instead of 7, or if they received a bigger bag.
p.63 Use a tall skinny glass and small plates/bowls/spoons.
p.70 Serve food in smaller serving bowls and people will take less.
The other thing I disagreed with, but I'm not sure what page, is that they gave the usually suggestions for a restaurant: send the bread basket away, split a meal, but then they gave two suggestions I disagree with. One is "Or order two appetizers instead." Really? Most appetizers are HIGHLY fattening and quite big for one person. The other is, they said "Use the 'Pick Two' rule: Pick two of these - drink, appetizer, dessert." I think that the meal should be included in there, in other words, pick two out of drink, appetizer, meal, dessert. Having two of the others PLUS a meal seems like WAY too much if you are trying to eat in a balanced way.
p.99. "Weight can be inherited, but it can also be contagious." Double amen to that one! I get so aggravated when people say "Cancer runs high in my family, so I'll probably get it, so why should I quit smoking/eating bad/etc.?" Same is true for weight. I could say that I inherited it genetically from my mom and her mom, and while that's partially true, didn't we also see our predecessor shop, cook, their attitude about food/diets/holidays/celebrations/comfort/exercise, etc.? Maybe if I still die of congestive heart failure, it can be at an older age than my mom, or not be plagued with the wide variety of other things that she had that made the last years of her life so miserable. Maybe I won't have to be on so many medications that cause complex side effects and diseases themselves. I am trying to DO something about it, so that even if it might be too late to change some of my health problems that they also had, maybe I can change things for my girls. But I'm hoping it'll change things for me too. :-)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)