So Long Thunder Thighs!

Wow! Another great thing about this surgery and my new life is how much I track what I eat and make sure what I am eating is going to provide me the fuel I need for my body to stay healthy.

I'm not saying that I am perfect - but I try to do what I need to do to continue to lose and keep my body feeling well.

Men's Health published the 2009 Worst Foods in America list http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/20-Worst-Foods-2009/index.php

What I noticed most is that the calorie count on many of these items are more than I eat in a day - or even 2 days on some instances!

I had my nine month check in today with the surgeons office - I have lost 80% of my excessive weight! The nurse said the surgeons are thrilled if people have lost 75% by their one year appt. - who would have thought I would have been an overachiever in the weight loss department.

The nurse also pulled up the photos they took on my first appt - wow - I don't even recognize that person.

I am finding I have started getting a bit of a tolerance built up to sugar and carbs - meaning I dont react as violently to them as I used to - and this doesn't make me very happy. I need to get better at tracking daily what I am eating (I'm a fan of thedailyplate.com for my tracking) and keep the carbs to a minimum and protein to a maximum.

I also need to work on exercising and weights to tone up what is left. I think I still limit my activities based on past perceptions of my body size. I still feel like I am "too big" to run - when in fact that is not the case.

Just have to keep moving forward - striving to make the best and healthiest choices I can. Even 9+ months out - it really is about using the tool and make the choices.

If someone told me that it would be possible to lose half my body weight in a year I would think they were insane. Today I hit the scale at 168. I have 20 more to lose to be at 148 which will be half of what i started at last December/January when i started this journey at my heaviest 296.

Wow!

Sometimes life presents opportunities that allow us to be brave and do something outside of our comfort zone just to show us we can.

Last night was my youngest daughter's physical education open house at her elementary school. They had different activities for the kids and parents could participate too. One of the activities was a tarzan like rope swing. Stand on the platform, grab the rope, swing and drop on a big mat.
And guess who got in line. Yep, I did. I DID the rope swing! Not once - but twice! It was fun and thrilling and scary all at once. I bet I was grinning like a goofball.

A year ago I can't say for sure we would have even gone to physical education night and tonight - rope swing! What a great Wow! moment for me. I can do this stuff now. This is why I had surgery. I will not be held back by physical limitations.

In the Star Tribune this weekend there was an article about a University of Minnesota surgeon who is looking at a new way to do weight loss surgery. This less invasive version actually goes down the patient's throat and performs surgery without any external incisions.

For me, the recovery time and the minimal scarring from the surgery I had in March seems like a good trade off for how great I feel now.

Before surgery I would drink soda daily, all day. Since January 2008 I haven't had a single soda.

Before surgery I wouldn't touch coffee - blech. Now I have a daily latte habit. I must admit it is my new transfer addiction. Im a Starbuck junkie - Venti Iced Skinny Vanilla Latte (Quad).

However, I recently discovered a way to get more protein and less guilt in drinking my daily espresso. (Thanks LJ).

Now I get the Quad Espresso on ice and I pour in a protein shake instead of the sugar-free syrup and milk. It doubles the protein intake. And makes tasty breakfast.

So this morning I am drinking a Pumpkin Spice Iced Latte
4 shots espresso
1/2 venti cup of ice
1 scoop Lean Dessert vanilla creme protein powder
1 oz of DaVinci Sugar Free Pumpkin Pie Syrup
1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice

Yum!

PS - Check with your doc if they don't recommend coffee/caffeine - I drink plenty of water to counteract my java fix.

The physical changes are amazing - beyond my imagination at 8 months out of surgery. However, my brain hasn't necessarily caught up with those changes.

If someone meets me for the first time or sees me out in public - they don't know anything different than what they currently see. They don't know that i weighed nearly 300 pounds only 8 short months ago. They don't know that I feel like I am wearing a mask now - that I am still that 300 pound woman on the inside - that I haven't accepted my new "skin" yet and can't identify in being a "normal" size person.

Here is a great article from Newsweek about another woman that had a gastric bypass and she talks about feeling like an imposter and how others accept her as always being part of the skinny side of life. http://www.newsweek.com/id/74075