Woohoo!

Just finished a 45-minute ride on my exercise bike! I always forget how awesome the post-workout high feels. :D I think I'm claiming that as my first NSV. :D

219...is a magic number

(Points to anyone who gets the reference in the title!)

So, after a week of bouncing around from 223 to 225 (despite me eating two protein shakes and one small meal for the past six weeks AND exercising hard for nine of the past ten days!), my official weigh-in at the bariatric practice was 222.2. Which, I have to admit, was disappointing, because I must get to 219 before my file can be sent to my insurance for approval and before I can get an appointment to see the surgeon.

I stepped onto the scale fully expecting to see 222 or 223. My morning weight is not usually my lowest of the day, because I tend to retain water overnight, especially if I've had salt the day before. After I take my meds, the excess water is flushed out of my system, and then I get my lowest weight for the day.

All of that is to explain why I was so excited to see the number 219.8 on my scale this morning! FINALLY! I know I need to lose a couple of more pounds to allow for clothes, etc. when I weigh in, but at least at this moment, I am there! Woohoo!

Gastric Sleeve surgery?

So, I had pretty much decided on the gastric bypass. Read all about it, researched, talked to my doctor -- it was all good. But now, apparently, my insurance is also starting to pay for gastric sleeve surgery, and I'm right back in Indecisionville.

On the one hand, it would seem to be a good thing to not have to cut into my intestines. On the other hand, from the little I've read about the gastric sleeve, it apparently results in less weight loss than the bypass, and weight loss is the name of the game, right?

So now, I don't know! I'm not scheduled to see the regular medical doctor anymore -- after I lose three more pounds (*eyeroll*) I get scheduled to see the surgeon. What do I do?

Have any of you had the gastric sleeve? Or can you suggest bloggers who had that surgery so I can read first hand accounts?

My fat apparently loves me.

For almost five weeks now, I've been on the two-protein-shakes-and-one-reasonable-meal diet that my bariatric m.d. suggested. I lost five or six pounds right off the bat. But now my weight isn't budging!

Yesterday, I had the two protein drinks, 1/4 cup of fat free cottage cheese, one container of greek yogurt and a peach during the day. For supper, we had grilled chicken (I ate two legs), one small piece (4 inches) of corn on the cob, and steamed broccoli. After supper, I had a chunk of watermelon and a suger-free popsicle. (I just remembered that I also had a tablespoon of peanut butter in the afternoon.)

I've exercised for five of the past seven days. Good, hard exercise that had me sweating profusely and out of breath. Thirty to 45 minutes at a time.

So why is my scale refusing to budge? I was briefly at 221.8 a few days ago, but since then it's bounced around from 223.8 to 225. I don't understand it!

I had hoped to be at 219 (my required five percent loss) by the time I go to my last nutrition class Thursday afternoon, but it doesn't look like that will happen. I don't know what I'm doing wrong! Maybe I need to go to three protein drinks per day just to get these last few pounds off.

Also, while I'm whining: I have a task to do at work that I despise, and I am procrastinating like whoa. ;)

Eep!

So, I watched a few seconds minutes of a laparoscopic roux-en-y surgery. Um. Owwie?

I'm not typically squeamish, but wow, watching that was a bad idea. I wish I could just get it over with already and not spend so much time obsessing over thinking about it.

Maybe it'll help to list some of the reasons (besides health, which is, of course, the main reason I want the surgery. In no particular order:

* I'd like to be able to fit into a bra. Seriously. Have you ever tried looking for a 42A bra? It doesn't exist -- well, it may exist, but the cups are waaaaay larger than what an A cup should be. I kinda got the short end of the stick in the boobular area. I started developing early -- I was the first girl in 3rd grade who had to wear a bra -- and stopped developing shortly afterward. And not to make mountains out of molehills (see what I did there?), but I didn't get the extra boobage you're supposed to get when you breastfeed, either. So, I got fat, but I didn't get the gazongas to go along with it. Which leads me to...

*I'd like to fit into clothing. If you wear plus-size clothes, you may have noticed that the shirts, in general, play up the boobs. I'm sure I'd like it, if I actually had any boobs to play up. Instead, when I put on plus-size tops, I look like a little kid playing with her mama's clothes. So, I mostly wear shell tops in warm weather (I currently have five that I rotate over and over and over again) and twinsets in cold weather. Nothing else fits.

*I'd like to not feel crowded in our shower stall. I'm forever bumping my elbows, or brushing the cold shower walls with my butt-ticular area. And I end up having to step sideways out of the stall to get through the door without bumping jiggly bits.

*I'd like to not feel tired all the time, or out of breath when I walk a block from my car to the office. That's actually getting better since I started working out on my recumbent bike! I want to feel well enough to pursue my goal of becoming a nurse.

*I want to like people looking at me again. Now, I can't stand to look at myself in the mirror, so I guess I assume everyone else feels the same way.

*I'd like to feel like a normal person. That's not too much to ask, is it?

In less heavy (geddit???) news, I ordered some Nectar protein drinks on the suggestion of someone in my bariatric practice's support group. Who knew chocolate shakes were going to get old?

Have I mentioned that I love my exercise bike? Also, an iPhone question

Aren't those commercials where people say, 'I love my bank!' in various ways annoying? And yet...I feel that way about my recumbent bike.

I had a treadmill for several years and actually used it a good bit, but I hated it. My balance is off because of a couple of meds I take, so I always felt slightly wobbly and worried that I was going to miss-step and fall off or something. Not to mention that it made my feet and knees hurt. To top it off, I felt like a lumbering elephant on it. No matter how much I tried to move gracefully, my feet ended up slapping the moving track -- clomp, clomp clomp. Ugh. Just not fun.

So I got a recumbent exercise bike, and wow, what a difference! No worries about losing my balance. My feet and knees never hurt. And I actually feel like my movements are graceful and strong. I've had my bike for about four weeks, and it's made a world of difference. I can already tell that my legs and core are stronger. And as an added bonus, I point a fan towards me and -- although I do get good and sweaty -- at no point do I feel like I want to die!

Today, I set out to ride 30 minutes while the hub and kids went grocery shopping. At 30 minutes I thought, 'I could go more.' So I did! I went 45 minutes, and STILL didn't feel like I wanted to die! :D

On the weight-loss front, my scale said 221.8 this morning. I did a happy dance right there on my bathroom scale. I need to be down to 219 by Thursday, which is when I go back to the weight loss practice for my final nutrition class. If I make weigh-in then, my file gets sent to the insurance company and I get an appointment to meet with the surgeon! Man, for months it felt like I was running in molasses, and suddenly I'm almost done!

And now the above-mentioned question. Those of you using iPhones, do you know of a good app for posting to Blogger? I just got my iPhone this week, so I'm very much a newbie. Any ideas? Thanks!

More hoops jumped through!

I'm still here, jumping through every hoop they give me! I saw the regular bariatric doctor for the last time (I guess?) today, and then had the first of two nutrition classes.

/bitch and whine on

Okay, I understand that they have to give these basic nutrition courses in case someone has never heard it in their life, but seriously -- I'm willing to bet that most of the people in that room knew as much or more about nutrition, calories and protein than any of the three registered dietitions in the room. We overweight people have obsessed over, calculated and fudged enough calories in our time! We've lost (and regained and lost again!) weight. WE KNOW HOW. We are here because we need help getting there and STAYING THERE.

/bitch and whine off

ANYWAY. So, yes, the basic nutrition class is done. All I have left to do is the second nutrition class a week from Thursday (which I'm hoping will be more relevant to post-surgery diet than this class was). Oh, and lose 5 more pounds. The doctor I've been seeing (who said don't worry about losing the whole 16 lbs.) up and MOVED AWAY, so I have a new one, and this one is being a stickler for the five percent. It shouldn't be too hard.

After that, everything gets sent to my insurance and I get set up with an appointment to see the surgeon. The nurse said they usually hear back from insurance within a couple of weeks! Is it possible I may be getting my surgery in August?! SO EXCITED!

Oh, and I'm also excited because I finally got a recumbent exercise bike and I LOVE IT! I can go hard on it for 30 minutes and not even feel like I'm dying (which, you know, is always a plus.) I've been getting my lazy butt up 45 minutes early in the morning to fit in 30 minutes on the bike and another shower before work. Yep, I'm a little bit proud of that. \o/

Anyway, I'm off to catch up on my reading and see what y'all are up to! :D

All right, STOP -- Fangirl time!

Okay, it's Friday afternoon and I'm about to cut this place loose. I leave you with an awesome, upbeat song that I LOVE! Have a great weekend!