Support

Last night was the monthly support group meeting sponsored by my surgeons office for their weight-loss surgery patients here in the Salt Lake City area. As I had my surgery the same day as the March meeting, this was the first I had attended since before the operation. Dr. M. spoke to us about hunger - true physical hunger and psychological hunger, and how to tell the difference. To a naturally thin person who has never had to think about this, it may be a difficult idea to grasp that someone else may not be able to tell the difference between being really hungry and just feeling that you need to eat. But those of us who were there really get it; and as I get further out from my surgery date and begin feeling the hunger that I still don't feel this soon after surgery, it will be vital for me to know and understand the difference. Two new people were in attendance at our group last night, both of whom had weight loss surgery several years ago, maintained their amazing weight loss for awhile, and then fell into the "eating because of psychological hunger" trap and had begun gaining weight again. I am studying and learning as much as I can now, as well as getting all the positive feedback I can. I will make this work - I risked my life to do it, and I'm not going to mess it up!

Fifty pounds!

Two days ago (Saturday, April 9th) marked 30 days since my surgery. All last week I kept inching closer to that 50-pound loss mark that would put me at 30 pounds lost in the first 30 days after surgery (remember that I lost 20 pounds before surgery). I thought 30 pounds in 30 days would be pretty fantastic. :) I thought about doing a "last chance workout" on Friday, but spent the day at home with my sweetheart instead. Saturday morning I stepped on the scale and was still one pound above that 50-pound mark. Hey, I was really close. Sunday, my weight was still the same, but this morning - bingo! I had dropped a pound and a half!

I have lost over 50 pounds!!!

And guess what? Only 13.5 pounds to go till I am halfway to my goal weight!

Eating out

The other night, Jack and I went to dinner and a movie with friends. Not looking for anything fancy, they had asked ahead of time if Panda Express was okay. Since this would be my first time eating out, I knew I had to plan ahead. After choosing the day before what I would take and eat cold (tuna and cottage cheese) while everyone else ate restaurant food, I decided to check Panda's website to see if they listed nutrition information for the food they served. I was pleasantly surprised to discover 3 dishes with quite low calorie, carb, and sugar counts. Two were my favorites that I almost always ordered when going there - Mushroom Chicken and Beef and Broccoli (the third was String Bean Chicken). I also realized that they also sold butterflied, breaded, and deep-fried shrimp, which I love. So I talked with Jack, and he agreed to get the Mushroom Chicken, Beef and Broccoli, and Fried Shrimp along with his side of chow mein noodles and share with me what I could eat. I took along a plastic knife, a little spoon, and a 2-ounce measure, peeled the breading off two shrimp, and cut up the shrimp and enough beef and chicken to equal 3-1/2 ounces. Then cut up zucchini and mushrooms to fill the other 1/2 ounce and dumped it all together on a little plate. Yummy! It was a perfect fit with what I am supposed to be eating, and it tasted heavenly!

Inches, inches, inches....

Yesterday was measurement day. This last week I lost more than 8 inches again. :D Since I started measuring three weeks ago, I have lost 4-1/2 inches from my belly alone. Jack has started calling me "incredible shrinking woman." Last night as I pulled a nightgown out of the drawer, I noticed denim down under the nightgown pile. I checked to see what was there, and found a pair of jeans and a pair of denim capris that just exactly fit! I remember wearing them for a very short time a couple of years ago and quickly growing out of them. Underneath the jeans was another pair of pants that I have shrunk right out of without getting a chance to wear them. That prompted me to try on a few other things that were in the closet. Oops, found a sweater that I didn't get to wear before it was too big, but also found a couple of sweaters that were too small that are now just right. Guess I better find time to go through the rest of the closet and all my drawers!

It starts with a "one"!!!

I passed a major milestone today! My weight has been dropping closer and closer to that 200 pound mark. Yesterday I was right exactly at 200 pounds. As I prepared to step on the scale this morning, I realized that I was holding my breath and hoping against hope that I would have dropped another pound. I looked down waiting for the number to appear in the LED window, and then watched it finally settle in. One hundred ninety-seven point five pounds! YES!!!

Smells like Spring!

Yesterday, the first day of April, was warm and sunny with beautiful, bright blue skies. Shortly after I got up, I looked out my kitchen window, and what did I see? Popcorn popping on my apricot tree!! The blossoms are opening a bit later than usual this year, but they were definitely there by mid-morning, with more popping out all day long. As I went for my walk today, it was still warm, although the sky was filling with clouds and the wind was more than a breeze. (By the way, I love walking without a sweater!) As I walked, it was more and more obvious that Spring is really here. Not only is our apricot tree now full of blossoms, but all the neighborhood forsythia bushes are beginning to show their bright yellow blossoms, the globe willow trees all have beautiful yellow-green domes, and daffodils are everywhere, standing straight and full and proud. As I walked, the wind brought all the smells of springtime - freshly turned earth, newly cut grass, garden fertilizer, and that undefinable freshness that is new growth. What a beautiful neighborhood I have to walk in!!!