The last big thing to mark my one-year post-op was the follow up with the surgeon, the nutritionist and the exercise physiologist. I met with the doctor and the nutritionist last week but couldn't meet with physio until today.
Everything is great for the most part. My weight loss by the numbers is about what they expected me to lose in one year. My labs came back good - my good cholesterol is high (meaning it's good), my bad cholesterol is low (also good) and my overall is at a very good 180. My vitamin levels look decent but I need to work on getting my D in every day. The concern was for my calcium level, which was OK but not stellar so I have to be super-vigilant about taking it. Of all the things I was supposed to do post-op, taking my calcium has been at the bottom of the list so it's being moved closer to the top now that I've wrapped my brain around this new lifestyle.
I met with physio today and she was much more encouraging. Her numbers are based on actual body make-up so they're not averages, they're true to MY body. First of all, measurements. Hard to argue with those. I've lost 20 inches from my waist. 20. Inches. Like the length of my newborns. JUST. FROM. MY. WAIST. I've lost 17 from my hips. That's a total of 37 inches and doesn't account for thigh or arm measurements. Holy crap.
My favorite part about meeting with Physio is that she hooks an electrode up to my foot and one up to my hand and it measures what my muscle mass is. My personal BMI. Not some equation for my height and weight but truly what MY skeleton and muscles weigh. Since I started this RNY journey, I've lost 103 pounds of pure fat. I have also lost some muscle but not a ton and I have a strategy to get that back. I'm no longer considered "obese" as my BMI is below 30% (it's 28% so I'm still "overweight" but not 'obese').
The hard work is paying off...however I still need to work hard. I need to get back into 9Round for some muscle-building action. This will become infinitely easier once baseball/t-ball is over in a couple weeks. I also need to do resistance training on the nights when I don't do cardio. I need to put in at least 15-20 minutes to my muscles. If I commit to doing those two things, I should kick-start the weight loss again AND build some muscle. Both positive things.
Life is still good. So so very good.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
One YEAR Post-Op
A year ago today was my RNY. In fact, a year ago right about now, surgery was done and I was being wheeled into recovery.
My memories of that day are spotty. I remember the morning clearly - getting up and driving to Abbott, waiting with my mom and Phil, going back to pre-op and changing and answering a million questions and taking a pregnancy test and starting the IV. After surgery, I remember my nurse anesthetist saying "All done, Amy!! You did great!!!" into my ear as she wheeled me into the recovery room. I remember feeling like my brain was stuck in honey or jello or something all day - sticky and slow and tired...so very tired...wanting to stay awake but falling in and out of sleep all day. I remember doing laps around the nurses station that night - alone - with my IV pole - and thinking about what I had just done. And being really scared that it was done.
The year has gone by - and would have passed whether I had surgery or not. Buy my GOD am I so happy I took the plunge. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have had it done...and so blessed that I mustered up the courage to do it. The person I was a year and more ago was not happy. She was so stuck and depressed and trapped she didn't know how to do much more than breathe because she'd failed so many times at dieting and taking control that she was just stuck. I'm now free. Thank God.
Anniversary's are typically marked with a meal or a celebration. No special meal for me today - just my typical plan. I will, however, have a nice long workout tonight and push myself hard. Harder than a typical workout - in celebration because I CAN. I CAN run an extra 10 minutes. I can up the incline and handle it. I can do an extra set of squats or lunges or sit-ups or triceps. That's my celebration. I CAN DO HARD THINGS.
My memories of that day are spotty. I remember the morning clearly - getting up and driving to Abbott, waiting with my mom and Phil, going back to pre-op and changing and answering a million questions and taking a pregnancy test and starting the IV. After surgery, I remember my nurse anesthetist saying "All done, Amy!! You did great!!!" into my ear as she wheeled me into the recovery room. I remember feeling like my brain was stuck in honey or jello or something all day - sticky and slow and tired...so very tired...wanting to stay awake but falling in and out of sleep all day. I remember doing laps around the nurses station that night - alone - with my IV pole - and thinking about what I had just done. And being really scared that it was done.
The year has gone by - and would have passed whether I had surgery or not. Buy my GOD am I so happy I took the plunge. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have had it done...and so blessed that I mustered up the courage to do it. The person I was a year and more ago was not happy. She was so stuck and depressed and trapped she didn't know how to do much more than breathe because she'd failed so many times at dieting and taking control that she was just stuck. I'm now free. Thank God.
Anniversary's are typically marked with a meal or a celebration. No special meal for me today - just my typical plan. I will, however, have a nice long workout tonight and push myself hard. Harder than a typical workout - in celebration because I CAN. I CAN run an extra 10 minutes. I can up the incline and handle it. I can do an extra set of squats or lunges or sit-ups or triceps. That's my celebration. I CAN DO HARD THINGS.
Thursday, June 2, 2016
11.5 Months Post-Op
The stall continues.
However...I am still proud of where I am. Not many people in the world can say they've lost 130 pounds in 11.5 months. How crazy is that?? Less than a year!! I lost the equivalent of my not-small 11 year old!! That is significant!!
I got inked almost three weeks ago now. I have tattoos on the tops of both my feet. I love them. I love them in a weird way - maybe partially because it's hard to believe they're real and forever. I went by myself to get them...for some reason, I thought Phil would want to join me but he said he didn't need to do that so I was on my own. Since these are my first tattoos, I'd never been inside a tattoo shop before my consultation. It's much more surgical than I thought it'd be. I was so impressed by the entire process. Also, I picked a very tender location for these tattoos - there isn't much flesh on the tops of feet and especially for the script, it felt like she was carving into my foot with a razor blade. I will say this - I can see how it's addicting. I find myself looking at them more frequently than I thought I would...in admiration, not in shame. And I love the phrase I chose - "I can do hard things". Yup and yup. I went thru a very itchy phase a couple days ago but they seem to have stopped itching and peeling so I do believe we're close to being all healed up...and I adore them.
I have my one year post-op appointment on June 23rd. I'm supposed to go have all the labs done (bloodwork) this week so we have results to talk about at the appointment. I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint the doctor and the nutritionist because I haven't lost much at all since my 9 month appointment. These last 30 pounds are tough - I'm fighting for each and every one.
I'm still running and I'm still not IN LOVE with running but now that it's easier, it's not bad. My secret is finding a show I love to watch while doing it - currently that show is Sons of Anarchy. I'm up to 45 minutes running (not fast, mind you) with some hills tossed in for good measure. What a workout that is!!! And when complete, I feel strong and able and proud...because it wasn't long ago that I would have rather died than think about running for even 5 minutes. And even still, the first 5 minutes are the hardest. Once I hit the 10 minute mark, I feel pretty good. But the beginning is the hardest and the worst. Much like anything, really.
That's all I got - not much to report. I'll post the update after my appointment in 2 weeks!!!
However...I am still proud of where I am. Not many people in the world can say they've lost 130 pounds in 11.5 months. How crazy is that?? Less than a year!! I lost the equivalent of my not-small 11 year old!! That is significant!!
I got inked almost three weeks ago now. I have tattoos on the tops of both my feet. I love them. I love them in a weird way - maybe partially because it's hard to believe they're real and forever. I went by myself to get them...for some reason, I thought Phil would want to join me but he said he didn't need to do that so I was on my own. Since these are my first tattoos, I'd never been inside a tattoo shop before my consultation. It's much more surgical than I thought it'd be. I was so impressed by the entire process. Also, I picked a very tender location for these tattoos - there isn't much flesh on the tops of feet and especially for the script, it felt like she was carving into my foot with a razor blade. I will say this - I can see how it's addicting. I find myself looking at them more frequently than I thought I would...in admiration, not in shame. And I love the phrase I chose - "I can do hard things". Yup and yup. I went thru a very itchy phase a couple days ago but they seem to have stopped itching and peeling so I do believe we're close to being all healed up...and I adore them.
I have my one year post-op appointment on June 23rd. I'm supposed to go have all the labs done (bloodwork) this week so we have results to talk about at the appointment. I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint the doctor and the nutritionist because I haven't lost much at all since my 9 month appointment. These last 30 pounds are tough - I'm fighting for each and every one.
I'm still running and I'm still not IN LOVE with running but now that it's easier, it's not bad. My secret is finding a show I love to watch while doing it - currently that show is Sons of Anarchy. I'm up to 45 minutes running (not fast, mind you) with some hills tossed in for good measure. What a workout that is!!! And when complete, I feel strong and able and proud...because it wasn't long ago that I would have rather died than think about running for even 5 minutes. And even still, the first 5 minutes are the hardest. Once I hit the 10 minute mark, I feel pretty good. But the beginning is the hardest and the worst. Much like anything, really.
That's all I got - not much to report. I'll post the update after my appointment in 2 weeks!!!
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