Losing Weight And A Loss

I am back...FOR REAL this time. Life got the best of me lately but I have no excuses anymore so I will be blogging consistently---at least once a week from now on. I promise. If I fall out again please hunt me down and slap me or just email and say hellooooo where are you?

Some exciting news--- I am officially down 52.6 lbs from my high weight. I am now at 188.4. The day I saw my weight in the 100's I did a happy dance. I haven't been this low in weight in years. My overall goal I have now set is too lose 100 lbs from my highest weight so my long term goal is 141 lbs. I have not been exercising at all but I plan to start at least 5 days a week.

I am struggling with energy and have found a few things that help. Spark which I just ordered some of and I get it on Tuesday. So excited! I used to drink this so I am glad that I can still have it. 15 calories, 4g carb, NO SUGAR! The other thing I have drank now and then is Monster Rehab. I really like the new peach tea and Green tea flavors. 10 calories, 3g carb, 2g sugar.

I really need to exercise as my stress has been through the roof lately. Unfortunately my Grandma passed away 3 weeks ago. I was very close with her and it has been a rough time for me and my family. My Grandma was an incredible woman and my heart aches everyday without her. My Grandma was extremely supportive of my surgery and had been there cheering me on every step of the way. When she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer back in January the first thing she said to me was "You are not going to put off your surgery because of this". She was always thinking of everyone else. I am glad that she got to see me get as far in my journey as I am and know that I am on the right path.

When you lose someone you love it completely shatters you to the core. It makes you question everything in your life. I am already going through major emotions with my weight loss and "Finding Myself". Now even more I am questioning what I want in life.  Life is so short and I am realizing that now. One thing that I have been thinking and dreaming a lot about is why did I ever stop writing? Creative writing was my passion growing up and I live in the state where the number one university for creative writing in the US is located. Even with the blog I feel like I have put off blogging because I am scared of writing. I don't know why. I don't know if its a fear of failing or what it is.

The crazy thing about life is when you aren't looking the time just slips away from you. I have been out of high school for 8 years now. The last real vacation I took was 5 years ago. The last relationship I had was 4 years ago. I am turning 25 in less than a month. While the list of things I have accomplished is amazing there are so many more things I want in life. I keep feeling like my dreams and the signs I am getting are my grandma telling me "It's not too late but start now". The quarter-life crisis is major right now...

#iloveallofmechallenge Day 4

DAY FOUR: A picture or video of you doing or talking about something you're passionate about!

- a certain political/social movement, a hobby, your children... Anything that ignites passion in your soul.

Okay so the thing I am passionate about is travel. I feel we learn so much from experiencing other people and cultures. On the few travels I have had I really found myself. I have so much more traveling I want to do and it seems not enough time or money to do it but I will work my hardest to make it happen.

Some of my travels....

California 2014

Mexico 2010

Spain 2007

#iloveallofmechallenge Day 3

DAY THREE: A picture of yourself as a child!

- along with your childhood photo post a short letter you wrote to your child self... Encouraging them and telling them how much you love them.

Your life will never be as easy as it is as a child. I envy you. You will be in a rush to mature and be grown up but you shouldn't because growing up isn't as fun as at looks. Life is so much easier when you are a child before you realize what it really means to be a grown up. You are innocent and naive and have no idea how mean people or the world can be. Once you do start to learn that you will begin to see how strong you are. You will survive. You will make it through the losses, the heartbreak, the good and bad days. You will grow because of it. No matter what society tells you continue to believe you are smart, funny, beautiful, and everything else you want to be. Believing it is half the battle. Most of all always remember when times get tough they will always get better. It may take awhile but I promise things get better. I love you for bringing me to the person I am now.

#iloveallofmechallenge day 2!

Day two of the challenge!

DAY TWO: A photo or video of you doing something to take care of yourself.

-Be it a hot bath, eating a delicious treat, getting a massage, watching your favorite show, taking a jog... Record yourself doing something for YOURSELF and yourself ONLY!

Snuggling with my puppy! I was sick today so all I did was sleep and snuggle with Boyd. I am not sure if I have the stomach bug or if I ate something yesterday that made me sick 😕 My new tummy does not like being sick at all. Still feeling pretty nauseous but really hoping it goes away soon. Hey I stuck with posting even though I wasn't feeling well though. Hope you all had much better days than I had.

#iloveallofmechallenge Day 1

Hey again,

So here is the challenge that I was talking about in my last video. Looks like I will be posting for 14 days straight!

Its called the I Love All Of Me Challenge. Here is the link to the FB page for it... https://www.facebook.com/groups/379428962241095/ 

Major props to the person who came up with this challenge. I think its very fitting for the journey I am currently going through! Here are the challenges:


The Love Yourself Challenge!

-This isn't just for selfies...

It's for self expression!! So get creative and write about the photos you take! Allow yourself to be vulnerable... I think you will all be surprised at the positive response.

Only 2 weeks smile emoticon

Tag friends to challenge them!


STARTING TOMORROW!

The Love Yourself Challenge:

DAY ONE: A photo of you in your natural habitat!

-no makeup, no filter, the clothes you wear around the house... Try to capture a day in the life of you in the most creative way possible!


DAY TWO: A photo or video of you doing something to take care of yourself.

-Be it a hot bath, eating a delicious treat, getting a massage, watching your favorite show, taking a jog... Record yourself doing something for YOURSELF and yourself ONLY!


DAY THREE: A picture of yourself as a child!

- along with your childhood photo post a short letter you wrote to your child self... Encouraging them and telling them how much you love them.


DAY FOUR: A picture or video of you doing or talking about something you're passionate about!

- a certain political/social movement, a hobby, your children... Anything that ignites passion in your soul.


DAY FIVE: Post an artsy selfie of yourself!

-try to post a selfie that captures your mood during day 5...GET CREATIVE!! Doodle on your photo...use word art...play with lighting! Anything!


DAY SIX: A picture with someone who influences you!

- and a short paragraph explaining why!


DAY SEVEN: A picture with a stranger!

(One of the biggest ways we can learn to love ourselves is to learn to love others and vise versa)

-obviously be safe with this one... Take a picture with a friendly stranger you meet in public and write a short a paragraph describing the things you liked about them... If you can't GO OUT and meet a stranger.... Message a person on Facebook that you've never connected with before and write about them!


DAY EIGHT: A picture of your favorite physical attribute!

-what part of your human suit do you enjoy the most!


DAY NINE: A picture of your least favorite physical attribute!

-write a short paragraph explaining why.

(Notice how others respond to your insecurities... You may find that you aren't alone)


DAY TEN: A picture or video showing off a talent or weird quirk you possess.

-anything from singing, dancing, raising one eyebrow, double jointed, playing an instrument, ETC!


DAY ELEVEN: A video or picture pointing out three things who make you confident in who you are.

(nothing about your physical body) -video is better!


DAY TWELVE: A picture tagging someone else on your friends list that you really admire.

-write them a sweet love letter! (Bonus points if it's someone you rarely talk to or hardly know)


DAY THIRTEEN: A picture with something you HAVE to do on the daily that you don't enjoy...

And write down at least one way that you can shift your attitude towards this task.

(Work, cleaning, showering, changing diapers, ETC)


DAY FOURTEEN: A picture smiling as big as you can along with an encouraging love letter to your CURRENT self.

Include a new goal for yourself!


And be sure to include:

‪#‎iloveallofmechallenge‬

Soooo...Day one!

A photo of you in your natural habitat!

-no makeup, no filter, the clothes you wear around the house... Try to capture a day in the life of you in the most creative way possible!

No make up/no filter. Just chilling in my recliner in my lounge clothes. Not necessary the most "creative" way to capture myself but I did what I could with having to take the picture myself.

Last but not least....I had my one month post op visit today and all went well. No fainting during the blood draw this time. I didn't even get light headed. My doctors were very pleased with my 22 lb weight loss and said generally at this time they are looking for a 5% loss of excess weight and I have had a 10% loss of my excess weight. Yay!

Out Of My Comfort Zone

Hi all,

So a few apologies....I am sorry I haven't posted again. I am sorry that the below is so long. I decided to do a video this time. It's long and I totally understand if you don't have time to watch! I am going to start doing some video blogs to better reach out to people who are in the weight loss surgery community. If you have time watch it sorry for being awkward. This is totally out of my comfort zone but I am sure I will get used to video's eventually. It has been one month though and I am down 22 lb. since surgery. I filmed this last night and it took 2 hours to upload! Yesterday was my one month post op. Enjoy!

I'm back!

So I fell out of blogging for the past week. I have been too tired and just relaxing and watching TV.

The surgery went great. I was all on track to go home on Wednesday as planned but the narcotics started to make me nauseous so they kept me another night and switched me to Tylenol. My nurses were great and made me feel very comfortable. I finally went home Thursday afternoon and stopped taking the Tylenol on Friday because I was down to a dull ache for pain.

I had my 1 week post op appointment yesterday and it was good and bad. I was walking quickly to get to the appointment because the hospital was busy and people were walking right on my heels and would not go around me. They took me in to draw my blood right away and as normal I got light headed but this time I was not able to breath through it. I passed out for the first time ever in my life and several nurses came in and they put smelling salts under my nose to wake me back up. When I woke up I started convulsing and I guess I had some sort of seizure. It was very scary but luckily I was okay. They put me in a recliner all the way back and wheeled me into another room and put a wet washcloth on my head for me to calm down. They took my vitals and everything was fine and I wasn't dehydrated so it seems it was just a combination of over exerting myself and then getting stuck with a needle right away.

I think my body is just sick of needles. I had to have 4 different IV's in the hospital because my veins kept blowing. They were giving me a shot to prevent blood clots every 12 hours and they drew blood every day. I am hoping that at my next appointment in 3 weeks I don't have an issue with the blood draw again.

I have lost 12 pounds since surgery which is great! I am very excited for what is to come. I am starting to get my energy back and I start taking my vitamins tomorrow so that will help a lot. I just wanted to do a quick update since I am feeling better and I am sure I will be posting more now. This is my first post on my phone so I am sorry if it looks strange.

I will leave you with a quote that I find fitting now that my reconfigured insides are currently healing....