ONE YEAR SURGIVERSARY!

OH MY GOSH!!!!

IT HAS BEEN ONE YEAR!!!!!

HOORAY!!!!!

In celebration of my one year surgiversary, I wanted to post some pictures of before and after. I purposely saved this outfit because I knew that it would come in handy. The green shirt and pants was the last outfit I wore before I went into surgery. The jeans and red shirt was my very favorite outfit...which you can see is much too big now. The jeans are a size 22W and now I am a 10. The shirt was a 3x and now I am a Large or Extra Large!

This belt used to be too small and now look at it! I have so much room!!!!!!

Measurements:

Body Part: Before: After: Total Lost (all measurments are in inches)

Neck: 16.5-13.5-3 lost

Chest: 52-42-10 lost
Shoulders: 54-44-10 lost
Waist: 60-41-19 lost
Hips: 55-47.5-7.5 lost
Right Bicep: 16.75-12.75-4 lost
Left Bicep: 16.5-12.25-4.25 lost
Right Thigh: 29.5-24.75-4.75 lost
Left Thigh: 28.75-24.5-4.25 lost
Right Calf: 20-17.5-2.5 lost
Left Calf: 20-16.75- 3.25 lost
Ring Size:11-7-4 Ring size
Body % Fat: 46.6-30.3-16.3 lost (this measurment is 2 months old. Has not been tested for a while)

72.5 Total Inches LOST!!!!

So, after a whole year of life changing experiences, lets talk about the good stuff! There has been so many changes and revelations this last year that I want to share with you. The list could go on forever, BUT dont worry, I wont keep you too long!

1. First off, I make a really cheap date:) I dont eat too much, so we could split something. "The drinks will kill you!" as my dad says, but I cant drink while I eat, so you will be saving money there. Plus, I cant eat sugar, so we will not be getting dessert. This makes shopping for food and eating out super easy!
   


2. Small plate, big plate, or a platter, when my stomach is full it doesnt even matter! I used to eat on small plates, but what I realized is that no matter what size my plate is, my stomach gets full and I am down for the count.



3. I can now sit behind the steering wheel and have my stomach not hit it in my car!



4. I can sit in the back seat and the seatbelts fit, plus I can now ride in my dad's Corvette comfortably. It totally makes sense to me now why he bought it after he lost all of the weight. HMMM what should I buy myself when I hit my goal?!?!?
   


5. I do not have to worry about breaking chairs when I sit down.



6. My butt fits into chairs now! Like really, the starbucks chair actually fit my tushie!



7. I still have the fat girl mentality though. I get claustrophobic when I sit next to people. I feel like I am taking up too much space....but I really guess I am not.



8. I wear high heels as much as possible! My feet dont hurt and I dont feel like I am going to snap the heel off!
   


9. I have not eaten fast food in a whole year and I really dont miss it!



10. I love fruit more than anything these days. Give me a pear and I am happy :)
    


11. I am running 10-15 miles per week now....by choice!



12. My money now wants to go to workout clothes and good running shoes instead of food!



13. This year I "found" my collar bones and the chest bones.



14. I felt my ribs for the first time.



15. I thought my hip bones were tumors in my sides. I did not even know they existed until this year:) I can ACTUALLY feel my hips/pelvis.



16. For the first time, I hurt my spine getting into the bathtub. I laid down to "relax" and thought someone was stabbing me....but no, it was just my spine! OUCH!
    


17. Sitting on hard surfaces hurts the "cheeks"



18. No more missed calls when my phone is on vibrate. The fat used to absorb the vibrations and I could not feel it, NOW I can for sure feel the vibrating of the phone.



19. I feel like I actually have eyes. I know this sounds really odd, but when your face is so full, it seems like my eyes disappeared. BUT...ladies and gentlemen, they are back in full force!

So I have made it a full year post gastric bypass surgery! I am not done yet, but getting closer to my goal each and every day! The fun thing is this, I am really never done. Health is something that we cling to each day. I will continue to dedicate my time to being healthy. Sure, I will hit my goal weight....eventually, but health continues forever!

So there it is my friends! I made it...one year down....many to go!!!

HIP

Hip


HOORAY!!!!!


Look out 2011 here I come!!!!!!

1 year Post-Op Appointment

This is going to be a quick post because my TRUE year post op is not until December 28th, but I had my one year post op appointment with the doctor yesterday!

It is crazy because one year ago today I have having my Pre-Op appointment basically signing my life away. I was getting ready for Christmas, very much like I am doing today, and thinking "this is my last REAL Christmas." I was also thinking "well next year I am going to miss out on all the cookies, cakes, and fudge." Now, a year later, none of that really even matters. I took myself to Winco to buy some SF candy in the bulk bins and am ready to enjoy the real meaning of Christmas.

So ok ok back to my appointment. It was WONDERFUL! I am down a total of 155 pounds from the day I was admitted into the hospital for surgery. Though the pounds are wonderful, the really exciting thing is my BMI (body mass index) has decreased significantly. Pre-op my BMI was 53.6% which tips the charts of MORBIDLY OBESE. Looking back now, I am shocked! Some BMI charts do not even have a option for 363 pounds in their calculations. Now, almost one year later, I am at a BMI of 31.01 which is borderline Overweight/Obese. So sure, I still have some ways to go, but I am on the right track.

Because I have lost 69.28% of my excess body weight and have been having problems with extra skin, I am being recommended for plastic surgery to remove the excess skin! I am actually really excited about this. Sparing the details, the excess skin is a medical necessity especially for my arms and my stomach. As time progresses, I may have to get extra skin removed from my legs as well. I am not going to do anything drastically to change my body, but the excess skin makes it really hard to exercise. To paint a mental picture for ya, I dont want my stomach and arms "sloshing" around. I never knew that you could make armpit fart sounds with extra skin! Funny?? Depends what 7 year old boy you ask. ;)

So that is basically the details released from my post op appointment. On my year Surgiversary, I will post all the inches details and new pictures!

Until then, Merry Christmas and thanks for continually supporting me through this journey!

The Tortoise & The Hare

This is Emily & I after a 3.4 miler. See how refreshed & energetic she looks? See how red & sweaty & ready to die I look? Yeah. So not fair. Oh, and yes, we totally try to match when we run together. Loves it.

My sister has been bugging me (as only little sisters can) about guest blogging again. Honestly, I feel like such a total dork when I guest blog because, as stated in my last post, you come here for her journey & her sense of humor & I don't even come close to being as entertaining as her. I am far behind her in the humor department.

I am also far behind her on every stinking run we have ever taken together. We are training together for our first 5K. We are following the Couch to 5K program & highly recommend it. The thing is, for Emily it wasn't exactly couch to 5K. It was more "gym 5 days a week & meeting with a trainer 2 of those days" to 5K. Me? It was "on the couch getting winded walking to the kitchen for another brownie" to 5K. So maybe I was setting myself up for feeling like a failure. I'm not the most competitive person but I am very comparative. Meaning, I often compare myself with those around me. So, when my sister & I headed out for that first run I figured she still had 40+ pounds on me & that I would be the one encouraging her not to give up. Ha! The pride comes before the fall, right?

I did not fall, literally, but I sure fell behind. I remember our very first run. It was a gorgeous & cool day & we headed out with our iPods synched to the second with our Week 1 Mix Down (our own music with Emily's ghetto fabulous impersonation telling us when to walk & run). We did our 5 minute warm up brisk walk & I was winded. Then came time to run for 60 seconds. 15 seconds into it I thought I was going to die. I made it the full 60 seconds though & was surprised that Emily was right beside me. (Remember, I thought she'd be eating my dust). 3 minutes of walking followed the first run & at the end of the walking I heard "RUN" in my ears & I guess (according to my sister) I said some very un-Heather-like words & got to running.

The first week we kept pace with one another but by week 2 she was much faster than me. I remember her saying something along the lines of..."um, well, when we run do you want to try & pick up the pace a little?" I probably would have died had I tried to run faster but I told her she was more than welcome. Ever since then we have kept pace during our warm up & cool down but during the run she is always about a block ahead of me. Emily & I joke about this tortoise & hare situation but it's not just us who have caught on! My dad gave Emily a card for her birthday & on the front of the card were two women running. The blonde was in front & the brunette was in back. Emily says "Oh, look, it's me & Heathy" and dad says "Yeah! & look who's up front" ha ha ha. Thanks dad!

I could be annoyed & jealous at her speed but instead I just choose to remember that this means that on race day she will finish first...and be there to high five & hug me at the finish line!

----Heather----