New hair

Awhile back I posted about my thinning hair. I thought the hair loss had stopped by about six months out of surgery. I was wrong - it picked up again around the beginning of September and just kept on falling out. :( For most of the last 20 years, I have kept my hair pretty short and either wedged or layered. During the past year or so, I let it grow out a bit - no longer than chin length, but pretty much all the same length in a blunt cut. I really quite liked the new length. However, by mid-October I had lost so much of my original hair volume (truly about 75%!) and had enough new undergrowth (now about an inch or more long), that my remaining longer hair reminded me of a bald person with a bad comb-over! Once again I went to my friend and hairdresser asking for help. I told her I thought it was time to get rid of the old length and start trying to meet the new growth. She worked her magic, and this is the result:

It's not perfectly combed in this photo, but I love the length and it looks so much better! Also, in this photo I am wearing the cute girls' size tee shirt I got at American Girl Place in Chicago last month! Yay me!

A Good Week

I intended to get this written and posted on Sunday, but as they say,"The best laid plans...."

Last week was a good week. From Sunday to Sunday I lost 3 pounds. A few months ago that would have been a normal weight loss, but at six months out from surgery, 3 pounds in one week is quite a bit. Those 3 pounds dropped my weight loss enough that I now have less than 20 pounds left to lose before reaching my goal weight.

Tuesday last week was my monthly measuring day, and I found I had lost another 9-3/4 inches (along with a 10-pound weight loss) since mid-August. Those lost inches included a 2-1/2 inch loss around my waist! My waist is now smaller than my top and smaller than my bottom for the first time in years - woo-hoo!!! I tried on the clothes in my drawers and hanging in my closet and found that (drum roll, please) the size sixteen pants and few remaining XL shirts are just way too big and baggy now. I can fit easily into the size 14 zip-front designer jeans (Eddie Buaer, Ralph Lauren, and Style& Co.) and the size 12 zip up and pleated front dress slacks and the size small pull-on warm-up pants that were tucked away with the "not-quite-yet" clothes.

One day last week I went grocery shopping with my 39-year-old daughter and was asked if we were sisters. Goodness! I am 24 years older than she is and have gray hair! I guess if the flabby skin is covered and I am smiling, I don't look like I am in my sixties.

One more thing to report. I got my hair trimmed up on Friday, as I am leaving town tomorrow for three weeks to visit my children in Illinois and Wisconsin (and see my brand-new grandson!). As Linda was combing through and cutting my hair, she commented, "It looks like you have a little buzz cut going on here underneath your longer hair!" Yay! My hair is starting to grow back in - and it is all that nice silvery white!

Yes, it was a very good week.

New clothes!

Last month my friend and neighbor and soon to be sister-in-law called and asked if I would be offended if she brought me some clothes that no longer fit her. Are you kidding me? The clothes I was wearing were looking pretty baggy and practically falling off my body - I was delighted to get more. So she brought over a couple of large bags full. A few days ago she brought me another full bag. Among the stuff that fit were several pairs of pants, a couple of dresses and quite a number of shirts. All were in the size 14-16 range, with nothing that was Plus size! What a great feeling it is to wear jeans that button and zip and have no elastic in the waist - not to mention shirts with spandex! They make me feel so good about the way I look. Now that I have lost 95 pounds, it's about time!

Okay, let's try this again....

Well, I have thinking about and planning all the different posts I need to make here, and I finally told myself to just get on the computer and start again today with how I'm feeling and doing now. If I can get back and fill in the blanks sometime, I will do that, but this is today and I just need to get busy.

This morning, after two days at the same weight (not much, I know, and I'm fine with that), I stepped on the scale and found that I had dropped a pound-and-a-half since yesterday morning. That is the second time that happened in a week, and I weighed four pounds less today than I did one week ago, for a total of 83 pounds lost. I still just shake my head in amazement. I must say that I love going to Church each week; I get so many comments - so many people telling me how good I look. It is such a boost to hear those! I have a sweet young friend at Church (who grew up in Germany), whose mother comes from Germany to visit her each year. The mother and I have become good friends through these visits, as well. So I walked into Sunday School class this morning and found her mother sitting there. The last time I saw her I weighed 83 pounds more than I do now, and she was actually speechless! Then she couldn't stop telling me how beautiful I look and how much younger. I was thrilled!

One thing I need to do though is fix my skirts. A couple of weeks ago we went to church with our daughter and her family in Arizona. We all rode together in their big SUV (it was so much easier to climb up into that thing than it used to be!), and when we got there, I was sliding across the seat to the door and left my skirt behind. Literally, it slid about halfway down my rear end! Oops!!! I guess I need to tighten the elastic in that one. I am very glad skirts are so easy to adjust down a size or two.

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!

Changes

Sunday - two days ago - I went to church for the first time since surgery 2-1/2 weeks earlier. I hadn't worn anything but pants and shirts and nightgowns for awhile, so I wanted to look extra nice and feel dressed up. I chose my favorite skirt and one of my favorite tops and began to dress. I put on the skirt and it almost fell off! Then I put on the top and it simply hung from my shoulders. I couldn't believe it!!! I had filled out this same outfit when I last wore it just over a month ago. Yes I had lost 13-1/2 pounds since the morning of my surgery, but about 20 pounds since I last wore this particular skirt and blouse. The difference in the fit prompted me to take a good look in the mirror. This is what I saw: The planes of my face are taking a more defined shape, my neck is thinner, my shoulders and the back of my neck are not so rounded, by belly is quite a bit less round, my upper arms are a bit smaller, and the top part of my chest is narrower.

Then, when I sat in the car and fastened my seat belt, I exclaimed in amazement, "I have a lap!!!" It has been so long since I had more than three or four inches of leg beyond my belly (I have short legs - remember?)! And Sunday, there were 6 or 7 inches showing. Woo-hoo!!! I could actually fold my hands together and put them in my lap instead of on top of my belly. I could rest my scriptures in my lap instead of on top of my belly. And the comments I got!!! So many people gave me that semi-puzzled look and said, "You really look great today."

When I got home, I got out the tape measure and took all the measurements to compare to the week before. I had lost more than 8 inches in just one week, and 2 of those inches were off my belly!!! I guess it is time to go through the closet and drawers and clothes boxes and pull out clothes in the next couple of sizes down. Wearing my own old clothes is going to be such fun!

Real food - Yay!!!

Tonight (well, Sunday night - I just noticed it is after midnight) I actually ate something that resembled a "real" meal! How does this sound? Refried beans, cottage cheese and salsa, anyone? Of course the amounts were miniscule - 2 Tblsp beans, 1-1/2 Tblsp cottage cheese, and 1/2 Tblsp salsa - but it sure was tasty! Actually, I had scrambled eggs with cheese and salsa for breakfast the other morning. That was good too. Other than that, my most recent meals have been yogurt, split pea with ham soup, and bean with bacon soup. Not bad at all!

Did I mention that when I put actual clothes on today (not just nightgown and robe), my pants were actually loose?!! Not around the waist - I'm still pretty sore and puffy across my belly - but I could gather up a whole fistful of fabric on each side seam just below my belly. Haven't done that in awhile with these pants!!!