Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend my family traveled up north to a family wedding. We had a really wonderful time. It's been nearly 20 years since I was up that way, and the same for my husband as well. It was a nice little family getaway. We spent Mother's Day at Sleeping Bear Dunes. I actually climbed the dunes! If I did not have this surgery, there's no way I would have ever been able to do that again. If you've never been up to that area of Michigan, I highly recommend it. It's so gorgeous. 


If you read my last blog post, you'd know that I was struggling to find something to wear. I bought a dress but it ended up being so big. I spend several hours last Friday shopping for something new to wear but just didn't like anything. I ended up wearing the same dress I wore for my brother's wedding last summer. I think it looked much better this time around, though it was too big and kept sliding around weird. 


I've decided that I'm going to stop (or at least try to stop) focusing on the number on the scale, and just pay attention to how my clothes fit, how I feel, etc. As you can see in this side by side pic, I've lost a great deal of weight, and I'm thinking 90% of my weight loss has been in my face and breasts. I'm okay with the face. I do hope I keep some 'chubby' in my cheeks however. I'm disappointed with the breasts though. I keep telling myself that it will be okay because I can always buy new ones if I really want. 


And just one more side by side/before and after picture. I love this man with all my heart. He's been so amazing and supportive through all this, and he loves me just as much now as he ever did. Plus, I love hearing him tell me that he's proud of me. 









Monday, May 7, 2012

The Problem With Losing Weight

This next weekend my family is going out of town for the wedding of my cousin. We all bought new dress clothes for the occasion. When I bought my dress, I bought it in the size I thought I'd be by then. The dress arrived and it looked beautiful. It was a bit snug, but it was also a month or so ago. We are now less than a week away from the wedding, and this morning I tried on the dress. And I kid you not, it's too big. I tried on the dress I had as a back up, and it's even bigger than the other dress. I'm going to explore some other options but if I don't like the way it fits/looks, I'll just go with the original dress I had. It is really pretty, and it's so comfortable. Normally I get so stressed because my dress clothes are too tight and uncomfortable, and now I'm complaining that they are too big and don't look nice on me. My how times have changed!

I am excited about the wedding though. Not only do we get to travel to a gorgeous part of Michigan (Grand Traverse Bay), we are staying at the hotel that night (my kids will love that!) and the next day, for Mother's Day, my husband took the night off work and we are going to travel down the Lake Michigan shoreline on our way home. Hopefully the food is decent as well as the music.

For the last couple weeks I haven't lost any weight. It's frustrating, but I've heard it's common. This past week I've started to lose a bit more. While I was looking through some clothes today for dress clothes, I happened to stumble upon a shirt I bought the summer of 2008. I was only able to wear it a few times, and when I did, it was snug. I got pregnant with my son shortly after I bought it and haven't worn it since. Tried it on today and it fit! And it was comfortable! I didn't look in the mirror to see how it actually looked, but I'm hopeful.

Now to convince my husband to let me buy a whole new wardrobe....

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Two Months Post-OP

It's been about two months since surgery. Things are going, for the most part, really well. I'm down 60 pounds since late January, sometimes more, sometimes less. It just depends on the time of day, and what day in my menstrual cycle I'm on. This past week I've stayed right where I'm supposed to be regarding the post-OP diet stages. The last few days however I've had this really weird pain in my stomach. I'm really hoping it is nothing major. Today was better than yesterday which was better than the day before which was the same as Thursday when the pain started.

I'm on this next stage of my diet now, stage 5. It includes the same things allowed on the previous stages (you can read about those four stages here) but on this stage, you are allowed:
*pureed meats (that may need to be thinned with broth)
*low fat cheese, cottage cheese, string cheese
*tofu
*well cooked or canned beans or peas - navy, kidney, pinto, lima beans and lentils and split peas
*soft well cooked vegetables (green beans, carrots, squash, wax beans)
*soft canned fruits (peaches or pears)

I have to say that I'm really excited about the fruit and cheese. I know I should be eating the veggies, but I cannot bring myself to eat cooked vegetables most of the time. It's a total texture thing. I know I need to work on getting more protein as I'm not currently getting what the doctors recommend. I tried some string cheese today and it was DELICIOUS. Seriously, one of the best things I have had to eat in a long time.

I've started to get cravings for certain foods. I hate it. I NEVER got cravings before, even while I was pregnant. It's just ridiculous. And of course they have to be for foods I can't eat.

Even though I have cheated with foods I am not supposed to be eating, I'm still pretty proud of myself. I have sacrificed a lot, and it's paying off. Next weekend we are traveling to my cousin's wedding. I've lost all this weight, I have a new dress and shoes. I need to do some tanning in an attempt to get some color on my legs. I have a new hair cut and I'm planning on coloring my hair by then. (I'm thinking RED!) Oh! And I'm also going and getting a pedicure and manicure before then! My husband and kids all have new dress clothes too and I think we'll look fabulous. I may even post a picture or two after!