Changes

I don't think I mentioned on my blog the "difficulty" I had this summer when I drove out to Boston to visit my best friend from grad school.  Because Boston is basically due east of MI, I always drive through Canada to shave time from the trip (it saves almost 3 hours time).  This trip, as I entered Canada, they didn't blink an eye.  However, when I got to the bridge back to the United States in Niagara, I was asked for extra identification.  At first, it didn't occur to me why they would be asking me for additional I.D., but as I turned to hand my drivers' license to the officer, it dawned on me: my passport photos is 6 years old!  Since I had surgery in March of 2012, that photo definitely wouldn't look like me.  The trouble is, my driver's license picture was at least 80lbs heavier as well!  So as I handed my DL to the officer, I said "Oh, yeah, I've lost a LOT of weight!"  His response was "Yes, you have.  Have a nice day."

On the return trip, the same thing occurred, but I was ready this time and had everything available.  It occurred to me that I should probably replace my passport despite the fact that it is still good for another 3 years since I am heading to India on the new year.  I went and picked up an application, but decided to check with the program coordinator before I spent the money and time.  She told me that we have to get a Visa, so it wasn't necessary to replace the passport.  And besides, by that time, I would have my new drivers' license.

Today, I went to get the photos to get my Visa for India and comparing the photo in my passport to the one taken today, it is clear why they felt the need for additional ID on that trip.  It is remarkable how different I look now.  And I never really felt like I put that much weight on my face.  Clearly, I was wrong!

This is how much difference 140 pounds makes!

Bariatric Blog

I know that I have been remiss in blogging anything in the bariatric side of this blog.  Mainly because my weight has been stable for so long now (since March).  With everything in my life that has changed, I feel blessed that I have managed to maintain my weight loss, but now that I am starting to plan for knee surgery next May, I feel like I need to reassess and regroup.  To that end, I would like to talk about things that I can do now that I SHOULDN'T take for granted. 

First, I can stand ever so much longer than I could before.  I still can't just go and stand for an hour or two, like most of my friends can, but that has more to do with my knees than my weight.  When you have no cartilage in your knees, they just start hurting after standing in one place for a long time.

I can, and just did, do my yardwork again.  This is something that was a really uphill battle for me before surgery.  I could work for 5-10 minutes, but then I had to sit down and then getting back up to work again was near impossible.  I just took a whole yard of leaves and pushed them into the road (for pickup this week) in about a half hour and didn't even get winded!  It's a nice feeling to be able to do these things for myself again!  See the before and after pictures below!

This picture was taken at night, but you get the idea!

All pushed into the road!

BTW, for those who are curious, I have lost 140 lbs since having the surgery on March 27, 2012.  I have been maintaining at 220 since March when I started traveling and then moving and starting a new career.  I need to lose about 50 more pounds to get to goal and would love to do so before they start replacing my knees.  I have started with personal training sessions which are helping me feel more comfortable and confident with my movement.  So now I need to figure out that magic formula with the food again so I can get this moving in the right direction again!

The Measures We Take

I did something this week that, for some reason, I didn't think I would every have to do again.  I have been plateaued for about 3 weeks and actually had started to slip the wrong direction.  I woke up Tuesday morning and got on the scale and it said 237...up 5 pounds from that time the week before.  Now, I know that I have issues with edema and bloating throughout my cycle, but this was the first time since I had the surgery that I had actually GAINED weight.  So, I knew it was time to do something.  I knew that I wasn't making the best choices for snack and I suspected that I had gotten into the habit of grazing (which has a different definition for bariatric patients).  Grazing when you've had bariatric surgery is not really eating constantly as most normal people will do.  But it is more like having 4-6 snacks a day instead of maybe 3.  And choosing things that you probably shouldn't be eating.  I will say this now because I have heard others who had the same surgery mention it as well: the down side of gastric sleeve surgery is that you do not have a problem with sugar.  Patients with roux en y have to deal with dumping syndrome; patients with gastric sleeve don't.  So it's very easy to grab a candy bar or don't think about the syrup that they put in your latte.  I know I have caught myself giving in and eating or drinking things that I probably shouldn't

So, what I did was I rejoined Weight Watchers.  I have been a member probably 15 times in my lifetime and I have always found the program to be a good one.  The advantage of the program for me is accountability.  I have to go stand on a scale once a week in front of a live person.  I thought it would be enough to see my nutritionist as often as I do because she shares my CSA, but since I don't have to weigh-in, it just wasn't working.  Especially since I continued to lose inches even after I plateaued.  As long as one or the other is moving down, we can lie to ourselves a LOT!

So, I am on Day 4 of the program.  I have been keeping track of my points (which go surprisingly fast, although I do eat a lot more protein than others and not as much vegetables and fruit).  I have even eaten some of the extra 49 points they give you each week.  This morning, I stepped on the scale to see how things are going and I saw......229!!!!!  Now, I know that I fight with my body when I reach those 10 pound marks and I get frustrated and because of that, it takes a bit longer to get past those points, but this week, I blew right past it.  Since I know I had gotten down to 321.8 at one point before joining, I am not counting the 5 pounds that I had gained.  That makes this weeks loss 2.8 pounds so far.  I am trying to decide which night is the best night for me to go to meetings (or mornings).  I am almost thinking I might make this a short week and go to the Saturday morning meeting this week just to get myself on that schedule in case it's the best time.

Milestones for today:
1) breaking 230!  Finally!  I am hoping that by the time I go for my 1 year follow up (March 29), I will be in the teens (210-219). 
2) I have lost 132 lbs!
3) I am well on my way to being able to wear size 16 pants!!!!!!  I cannot wait for that moment because it means I can say goodbye to the plus-size stores forever!!!!!

Halfway

Tonight, I stopped at Walmart to try and find a couple things and decided it was time to try on a pair of jeans. I have this habit of putting these things off because I can't see the changes as well as everyone else. I am proud to say I was easily able to put on a pair of size 26 jeans!

This is remarkable because before the surgery, I was wearing size 36! I also want to note that on top I have gone from a men's size 2X (women 4X/5X ) to a ladies L(14/16). To be perfectly honest, I had lost faith that I would ever see those sizes again. It just makes it all worth it. I am now officially halfway to goal. I can't wait to see what the second half brings!

More Heirloom Tomatoes

I don't think I will ever make tomato sause the same way ever again! Roasted tomato sauce is so much better than the sauce I used to make in the stove.

I managed to get ahold of more of the large golden heirloom tomatoes this week. Last night I slow-roasted them again. This morning, I blended them with a can of 365 brand crushed tomatoes into sauce. Oh yeah, I remembered to also roast the garlic this time. All I can say is yum!

By the way, this past week, someone rated the different companies who make crushed tomatoes.  I was surprised to find that Whole Foods 365 Brand tomatoes were very highly rated.  I hadn't tried them at that point in time, but had a can on my shelf.  I have to admit, they are quite good.  Much better than any standard grocery store brand.  I would want to try the San Marzano tomatoes before I declare them the best I've had, but I really like them.

The big milestone this week is finally getting my Makeyourownjeans.com jeans. Oh my goodness! It's amazing what a difference a well-fitting pair of pants will make!  Now I just have to find room in my budget to get a pair of slacks made.

Things To Look Forward To!

So the "fun" things included in our share this week will include garlic scapes, Russian Red Kale and pea tendrils.  I have missed the garlic scapes since I used up the pesto I made last year.  I remember that we got scapes for several weeks last year, so I will take the first batch to make another batch of pesto.  I used it in eggs and to roast a chicken last year.  I am thinking it might be good on salmon and other meaty fish as well.  I can't wait to be able to test these theories out.

My coumadin levels were high this week when I checked in with the anticoagulation clinic, which was a little disconcerting.  I am wondering if the Russian Red kale has as high of levels of Vitamin K as the green variety.  I will have to check that out.  I have missed kale all winter.  Buying winter kale that is imported just isn't the same as the fresh tender kale we get from the CSA.  I am going to make myself a quinoa salad with the kale since that seems the perfect way to cook it and gives me a fairly good protein source. The pea tendrils will serve as garnish.

I haven't reported much on my gastric sleeve stuff and I am truly contrite about that.  Not much has happened other than losing weight and getting stronger.  As I mentioned above, my coumadin levels were high this week.  They seemed surprised, but it was creeping up the last time I went in (up to 2.7 from two meetings at 2.5).  Since it had been 3 weeks since I had had it checked, I have to wonder if the dose is too high.  I cannot eat a full serving of greens in one sitting, so I can't be very sure that I am eating 2 full servings in a week.  They told me that they would leave the dosage for another week and have me come back to check again.  We are coming into the home stretch anyway, so I hope we keep it under enough control that I don't have a problem before then.  I make the appointment for a second ultrasound at the beginning of July.  I am excited that this has gone so quickly and look forward to being off the coumadin so I can have my chamomile and grapefruit again!

Now to the update.  I am now officially 60 pounds down.  I have had an ongoing frustration that most of this weight has come off the upper part of my body.  However, I am seeing things that indicate that I am losing down below.  For instance: when I went to a movie this weekend, I not only didn't touch the sides of the seat  when seated straight.  But even better, when I turned in the seat to give my legs more room (I hate stadium seating), I still had room in the seat.  It was a great feeling.  Below is a picture of my progress.  I find I have to do this because I, personally, don't see the changes.  It's very validating!