Yep that was me...
This photo was taken in March of 2011 during a vacation to visit family in Albuquerque, NM. I reluctantly allowed my grandmother to take this picture of me. I usually did what she said even when I really didn't want to because that's what I was raised to do.
I absolutely hated having my picture taken and because of that I'm not in the vast majority of the pictures from my life. No worries I didn't go far; I probably snuck out for a donut or to smoke a cigarette. Back then I had many, many, many bad habits. Luckily I have cut back to only many, many bad habits these days :)
I was 32 and 220ish lbs. I had begun a medically supervised diet program about a month before and had lost a few lbs. I'm 5'4" tall so 220 is not a good weight to be. I had been up to nearly 240 lbs and down into the low 180's at one point or another in the previous 17 years. During that time I did the college thing, had 2 daughters, did the "get married" thing, moved across country, started my teaching career, yo-yo dieted and basically just lived my life. I tried diet pills and HCG shots, cleansing, Slim-Fast, Atkins, etc, etc, etc... Same story, different face.
I did semi-successfully lose 40lbs once by eating healthier and exercising more...imagine that! I say it was only "semi" because, well aside from the obvious gaining back of the weight, I was able to keep the weight off for over a year and felt really good and healthy. So why did I eventually fail? I fell off the wagon when I met my husband in 2004. We both love food, all kinds of food, from all over the world and it was all the new restaurants we tried together, not to mention skipping workouts just to have more time for things like cuddling and making out...lol! Needless to say I gained the weight back and inevitably he started to get a little soft around the middle as well. Babies and marriage are notorious for not being kind to one's waist line, so I'm no different from the average Jane.
This photo was taken in March of 2011 during a vacation to visit family in Albuquerque, NM. I reluctantly allowed my grandmother to take this picture of me. I usually did what she said even when I really didn't want to because that's what I was raised to do.
I absolutely hated having my picture taken and because of that I'm not in the vast majority of the pictures from my life. No worries I didn't go far; I probably snuck out for a donut or to smoke a cigarette. Back then I had many, many, many bad habits. Luckily I have cut back to only many, many bad habits these days :)
I was 32 and 220ish lbs. I had begun a medically supervised diet program about a month before and had lost a few lbs. I'm 5'4" tall so 220 is not a good weight to be. I had been up to nearly 240 lbs and down into the low 180's at one point or another in the previous 17 years. During that time I did the college thing, had 2 daughters, did the "get married" thing, moved across country, started my teaching career, yo-yo dieted and basically just lived my life. I tried diet pills and HCG shots, cleansing, Slim-Fast, Atkins, etc, etc, etc... Same story, different face.
I did semi-successfully lose 40lbs once by eating healthier and exercising more...imagine that! I say it was only "semi" because, well aside from the obvious gaining back of the weight, I was able to keep the weight off for over a year and felt really good and healthy. So why did I eventually fail? I fell off the wagon when I met my husband in 2004. We both love food, all kinds of food, from all over the world and it was all the new restaurants we tried together, not to mention skipping workouts just to have more time for things like cuddling and making out...lol! Needless to say I gained the weight back and inevitably he started to get a little soft around the middle as well. Babies and marriage are notorious for not being kind to one's waist line, so I'm no different from the average Jane.
Let's fast forward....so now it's the beginning of 2011 and I have made the decision to seek out a more permanent weight loss solution...Bariatric surgery. First I had to see if I qualified, second if I was "healthy" enough for that type of surgery and I had to meet the requirements of my health insurance carrier. After my initial visit to Texas Laparoscopic Surgery Consultants everything was a go, just needed to complete the 6 month diet/exercise program required by insurance, attend monthly nutrition classes, a few medical test and I would be scheduled for surgery. February, March, April, May, June...finally it's time for my July appointment and my 6 months wait was over. I had gone from 224.6 during my first visit to 210.4 on my final visit; now my surgery was scheduled and I was super excited! Just had to complete a 10 day liquid diet first :( That was super difficult, but I followed the rules to the letter. There was no way I was going to jeopardize my surgery. Surgery day I weighed in at 201.6 and surgery went exactly as planned. I was "sleeved" on August 10th, 2011. I underwent the procedure known as Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, or VSG. For those that don't know anything about this, its basically the removal of 85% of the stomach. Here's a link for more info if your interested.
I was off work for about a 1 1/2 weeks for recovery and then had to take it easy at work for another few weeks after that. I can't really say that I was in a whole lot of pain, mostly just uncomfortable and easily dehydrated. I actually attempted to go back to work after day 4 since it was just the back to school sit around meetings and I thought it wouldn't be a big deal. Unfortunately I ended up really dehydrated because I was constantly busy and would forget to drink for long stretches of time. Lesson learned! I progressed through the required food stages and the weight steadily came off.
I was off work for about a 1 1/2 weeks for recovery and then had to take it easy at work for another few weeks after that. I can't really say that I was in a whole lot of pain, mostly just uncomfortable and easily dehydrated. I actually attempted to go back to work after day 4 since it was just the back to school sit around meetings and I thought it wouldn't be a big deal. Unfortunately I ended up really dehydrated because I was constantly busy and would forget to drink for long stretches of time. Lesson learned! I progressed through the required food stages and the weight steadily came off.
I started tracking my foods using My Fitness Pal and trying to be more active. I attempted the Couch to 5k program, but gave up after 3 weeks. I did some exercise videos, but soon gave those up as well. My brain was not in the right place, the weight came off and I wasn't exercising so I didn't see the value. By May of 2013 I reached my goal weight of 135 lbs. Went from wearing a size 18/20 in pants and 1x/2x in shirts to a 4/6 in pants and usually a small in shirts (depending on the store/brand/designer/etc.) Over the next couple of months I lost about 10 lbs more and sat at 125 lbs for the next year; putting me in a 2/4 for pants and xs or s for shirts. No exercise other than family/pet walks, roller skating with my youngest daughter, Lily around the neighborhood, playing in the park or our backyard and house cleaning. During the day I was a science lab teacher, constantly on my feet, moving around the room helping out the 20+ students complete their activities. By the time the day was done I was too tired to even spell exercise :)
Those bad habits I mentioned earlier, they still existed. The biggest change was my eating habits, less food and better choices. Otherwise I still bit my fingernails, smoked, drank, was a lazy flosser and didn't follow an exercise program. See the thing with the surgery is they only remove a big portion of stomach, not brain so my habits were still there, my cravings were still there, my love of food has not changed. I have to WORK at making better choices EVERY DAY, ALL DAY LONG. I get so annoyed at people who say it was the "easy way out." Uh...no.. the easy way out would have been to stay obese. To just keep living as I was, eating what I wanted, weighing 200+ lbs. That would have been much easier.
Let's fast forward again...because I could go on and on and on about how irritated I get at being told I took the "easy way out." So now its November 2013 and I'm sitting at 130 lbs most days. The scale doesn't move and I don't get that excited "oh I can't wait to see what the scale says today" feeling I used to get when I was in the weight loss mode. After 2+ years of living with my little tummy I have pretty much come to understand what I can and cannot eat, how much, how often and I'm not losing weight anymore. Good news is I'm not really gaining either. I would rather be in the 122-127 range, but 130 isn't that far off and with the holiday season I gave myself a pass for a few weeks.
Problem was I needed a new goal, a new challenge for my self. I have 2 daughters who keep me very busy, a husband and I recently changed careers from teacher to insurance agent, but still I didn't feel challenged on a personal growth level and weight loss wasn't a goal anymore. After much soul searching and thought provoking conversations with my husband I decided to give up smoking and quit drinking. November 12th, 2013 was the last day I had either a cigarette and/or an alcoholic beverage. For the next couple weeks or so I suffered through nicotine withdrawals, the desire to eat more, extra time/energy on my hands and anxiety because of it. I needed something to put that energy into....exercise! On December 11th I saw a post on Fb from a friend that asked if anyone was interested in signing up for a 1/2 marathon that would take place Dec. 7, 2014 in San Antonio, TX. It was like a light bulb went on and I decided right there and then I was signing up. I asked a few friends if they wanted to join me and 3 said yes! So there it was...my new goal, my next accomplishment to be.
Let's fast forward again...because I could go on and on and on about how irritated I get at being told I took the "easy way out." So now its November 2013 and I'm sitting at 130 lbs most days. The scale doesn't move and I don't get that excited "oh I can't wait to see what the scale says today" feeling I used to get when I was in the weight loss mode. After 2+ years of living with my little tummy I have pretty much come to understand what I can and cannot eat, how much, how often and I'm not losing weight anymore. Good news is I'm not really gaining either. I would rather be in the 122-127 range, but 130 isn't that far off and with the holiday season I gave myself a pass for a few weeks.
Problem was I needed a new goal, a new challenge for my self. I have 2 daughters who keep me very busy, a husband and I recently changed careers from teacher to insurance agent, but still I didn't feel challenged on a personal growth level and weight loss wasn't a goal anymore. After much soul searching and thought provoking conversations with my husband I decided to give up smoking and quit drinking. November 12th, 2013 was the last day I had either a cigarette and/or an alcoholic beverage. For the next couple weeks or so I suffered through nicotine withdrawals, the desire to eat more, extra time/energy on my hands and anxiety because of it. I needed something to put that energy into....exercise! On December 11th I saw a post on Fb from a friend that asked if anyone was interested in signing up for a 1/2 marathon that would take place Dec. 7, 2014 in San Antonio, TX. It was like a light bulb went on and I decided right there and then I was signing up. I asked a few friends if they wanted to join me and 3 said yes! So there it was...my new goal, my next accomplishment to be.
I immediately started the Couch to 5k program again and haven't looked back since. As a matter of fact I have signed up for a few races/events in the meantime, including another 1/2 marathon. Here's what I have so far in 2014: (I'll update if I add more)
Jan 18th - ABB 5k in Houston, TX ( day before the Chevron Houston Marathon)
Mar. 22 - 5k Neon Splash Dash in Houston, TX (I want to see the improvement in my time/pace)
May 3 - Biggest Loser RunWalk Half Marathon in Beaumont, TX (practice "run" as I plan to walk most of this with a friend)
Dec. 7 - Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in San Antonio, TX (I hope to run/jog most of this)
That's all I have for the about page as we have covered everything that you didn't know about me up until I started this blog...wanna know something else that I didn't say here send me a message or search around my blog and see if I wrote/posted about it elsewhere.
Got to run.....
Jan 18th - ABB 5k in Houston, TX ( day before the Chevron Houston Marathon)
Mar. 22 - 5k Neon Splash Dash in Houston, TX (I want to see the improvement in my time/pace)
May 3 - Biggest Loser RunWalk Half Marathon in Beaumont, TX (practice "run" as I plan to walk most of this with a friend)
Dec. 7 - Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in San Antonio, TX (I hope to run/jog most of this)
That's all I have for the about page as we have covered everything that you didn't know about me up until I started this blog...wanna know something else that I didn't say here send me a message or search around my blog and see if I wrote/posted about it elsewhere.
Got to run.....