Weight Loss

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Sunday, September 30, 2007

Onderland!

This weekend I quietly slipped into Onederland. For anyone who hasn't ever weighed over 200 lbs and tried to lose weight, "Onederland" refers to the magical wonderland where the first digit of your weight starts with a 1. Maybe that's obvious, I dunno. Anyway, it's a great milestone, but I really didn't give it a lot of thought like I thought I would. I am now 1 lb from my halfway mark, which is 37 lbs lost. It does feel good when I think about it.

Everything is winding down for us here in Stumptown. I find myself looking around a lot and trying to remember the things I love about Portland. I'm sure we'll end up back here eventually, but I don't know when. Starting school is getting more real, and more scary, every day. My program is going to be incredibly challenging in many ways, not just academically but also for our personal life as a couple, for me no longer being a financially contributing partner in our marriage, and in a time management sense, trying to manage having enough time for classes, studying, fitness and quality time with hubby. That's not even taking into account any attempts to continue with my glass art! I don't know if THAT will happen at all or not. But I'm trying not to worry about it. It's exciting to go back to school and start something challenging and stimulating. And I love the prospect of being able to earn more money in a career that I think I will enjoy, and getting closer to fulfilling my dream of having a family of my own and a real home. My life has been interesting so far, and while it's tough that I'll be trying to have a family when I'm getting close to the end of my reproductive years, I wouldn't change the experiences I've had for anything. I couldn't have done all the things I've done in life if I had had children in my 20s (even if I had that option...I didn't have a partner to have children with back then).

This past year has been a personally challenging one for my hubby and me, but I think we've done well with the difficulties we've had to face together, and we're stronger for it. I'm especially proud of my hubby in the way that he's dealt with so much stress this year. He's such a strong person, and so supportive and kind. I just love him to pieces! Thanks sweetie. :)

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Almost Halfway There

It's official, I am 34 lbs down and 40 lbs from goal! This Thursday will be 6 months exactly since my surgery. When I look back and consider that in my last successful attempt at weight loss, through Weight Watchers, I lost the same amount of weight but it took me 13 months, I feel very successful. I have lost weight proportionately, but enough that everyone notices now, even those who see me every day. After making halfway, my next milestone is another 13 lbs, when I will be at the weight I was when I met my husband. It's hard to believe that I gained almost 50 lbs since August 2004. That took about 3 1/2 years!

Other things fill my days than weight loss. I will be resigning my position at work in November, which is just around the corner. We will move to Spokane and I will start preparing to embark on my next professional goal, becoming a CRNA. My good friends Jon and Shannon both got in to anesthesia school in Florida, and they start a month after I do. I feel like we will all be going to school together, even though we will be on opposite coasts. I continue to make glass beads. I have made a lot of progress in my work this summer. I hope to get around to photographing the beads and selling them one of these times, but there are a lot of glass artists selling beads these days. I'd like to just be able to support my hobby; it's quite expensive. Hubby and I continue along, spending most days just with each other when we are not working. We have our bumps along the way, but we are fortunate to have a very loving and playful relationship.

This summer has been brief, but good. As far as the band goes, I have only had 2 fills this summer--in June and about 2 weeks ago. I had lost a great amount of weight at my June appointment, so Dr Jan had me come back in 2 months, but I came back sooner when my weight loss stalled again. When I saw the PA, Patrick, for the first time, he took out the fluid before filling me, saw I only had 2.1 cc rather than the 2.7 that should have been there, filled me to 2.6, and here I am. I think I could use a little more of a tweak--some days my restriction is pretty good, others I feel hungry a lot. It's never "tight"--I've never felt like I might get something stuck or had a hard time getting any kind of food down. I've never had reflux or vomited for any reason. I've never had a single difficulty with my band, actually, just difficulty finding the "sweet spot" of restriction. Yet, still I am losing weight, and I don't feel like I am dieting, so I call it success. I have to resist comparing my weight loss to anyone else's because I know I am a slow loser, and I know I'm doing the best I can. I work out at least 6 hours a week, and I eat 1000-1100 kcal per day. I have a healthy diet, I eat enough protein, and I'm not dehydrated. I'm doing the things I'm supposed to do and I am losing weight; almost 6 lbs per month, which is perfect. So I would say that things are going very well with me and the Band.

Maybe another 13 lbs by Thanksgiving? Who knows?