The Monkey Off My Back

This is Bethany, my 12 year old.  She weighs 98 pounds (don't tell her I told you that).  She's holding a 10 pound bag of flour.  And that's just the weight that I lost since surgery. I may have lost up to 100 from my highest weight even before surgery.

Putting a physical picture of the weight just brings back home HOW much I was carrying around.  No wonder I was exhausted all the time...

GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!

150 POUNDS BABY!!!  108 POUNDS LOST.  235 days.  7 months 21 days.  Hours and hour and HOURS of exercise.  What felt like gallons of sweat.  Daily struggles to get in enough protein and water.  Pushing the limits of what my new stomach can handle and regretting it every time.  Learning how to read labels, knowing the protein content of any given food and if it's "worth" eating. 

This has been the hardest thing I've ever done, and it's been worth every step.  Pics coming tonight!  :)

Oh Zumba, how I missed you.

Because of all the craziness of the holiday season I missed a good six weeks of Zumba.  I take that back.  Not just Zumba, but any exercise at all.  Not good.  I finally got back to it on Tuesday and it felt so great!  Well, it felt great that day, anyway.  I was HURTIN' the next day, was even worse yesterday, and am finally back to the same hurt I was at on the day after.  It probably doesn't help that I did 2.5 miles on the elliptical after Zumba, and then decided to try running on the treadmill after that.

Even though I'm still hurting today, I HAVE to get back in the gym, at least for some elliptical time and to get on the treadmill.  That's the thing about exercise that we always forget about.  The more often you do it the more conditioned to it your muscles become, and the less pain you'll be in.  Yes, getting used to it sucks, but having to get used to it all over again sucks even more, because your muscles just scream at you, "If you had kept up with it like you should have you wouldn't be having this problem right now, dumbass!"  And then you have to concede to your muscles that they're right, and that's never fun. 

We also have to take the time to find a form of exercise that's fun and rewarding for us.  If we're not enjoying it, we're just not going to keep up with it.  It's proven in the little things through our lives over and over (and over) again.  I'm sure everybody in the world (or at least in MY world) knows how much I love Zumba.  But I wouldn't enjoy it half as much if it weren't for my instructor.  There are instructors who shall remain unnamed who's class I'll never go to again, because I just don't enjoy myself.  Joan is an incredible instructor, though.  She cues for us (which is unusual in Zumba), is so incredibly animated, and you can tell that SHE'S having fun teaching.  Even on the days when I go and start the class with the feeling "I don't wanna beeeeee heeeere" I always end up glad I went, and leave with a grin on my face because I've had such a great time.  And more often than not, because I'm still feeling so great, I go on and jump on the elliptical or lift weights.  All because I had fun.  (Thanks again, Joanie, love you chickie!)

So I mentioned earlier that I got on the treadmill.  I HATE to run.  When I was in high school I hated to sweat and I just didn't know HOW to run, so I'd end up in pain from trying or I'd just be lazy and walk.  I'm working on changing my mindset on running, though.  I want to do the OKC Memorial 5K in April, and enjoy doing it.  I don't care about my time, I just want to DO it.  Getting started when you've never been a runner, though...HOOOLLLEEEY CRAPOLY!  I figured it wouldn't be so bad to start running since I've been doing so great on the elliptical.  Yeah, notsomuch.  Totally different set of muscles used when you run.  Did you know you actually use your ass when you run?  Neither did I, until my asscheeks were sore after running!  Maybe I have hope for losing the elephant knees hanging off my backside after all? 

So now I'm going to go finish my second giant cup of coffee and drink a liter of water, and head to the gym for some elliptical and treadmill time. 

BTW, if you're local, tomorrow night is a Zumbathon at Crossroads Mall, in the old Steve & Barry's upper level.  Admission is $10 and all proceeds are going to help the Shining Starz special needs cheer team go to Nationals.  I can't wait, it's going to be so much fun!  (And the Starz are going to give us a special performance!)  Please come if you're local, and if you're not but want to donate, let me know and I can get the donation info for you. 

Diet vs. Diet

The Today Show on NBC is always featuring people that lose weight, which is great.  But they always say that the people did it the "Old Fashioned Way" with diet and exercise.  Yeah, because Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers are from way back in the olden days.  They used to hang with all the personal trainers that are so old fashioned. 

Here's what gets me.  The word DIET.  Technically there are two definitions for diet.  The first is simply the nutrition that we take in to maintain energy.  The second is what most people think of when they hear the word.  A reduction in caloric intake. 


Hm.....WLS patients still have to eat and get energy SOMEhow, so yeah, diet applies there.  And WLS is essentially a permanent reduction in caloric intake.  For bypass patients it's even twofold, since we reduce calories by restriction and by malabsorption.  It's a lifetime diet, if you want to think in "old fashioned" terms. 

So the Today Show can kiss my wrinkly elephant-knee butt.  We WLSers are losing "the old fashioned way" too!

Finally figured out how to do a real side by side collage.

Start weight before surgery was 258, currently 154.  Brian and I went on a date last night and I was feelin' purdy, so I had him take a pic.  Them be size six jeans, baby!!!