It's Been A Few Months...

Well, it's been a few months since I last wrote so here's an update:

I haven't lost any more weight. I'm still around 174. I'm not happy about that but I know it's my own fault for not sticking with my diet as well as I should be. I feel somewhat bad about it but on the flip side, I've continued running and I joined Planet Fitness. I am now working out with the weight machines. I run a few times a week and go to the gym at least that much. I figure at this point I'm burning more calories and the 800-900 calorie/day goal that I had when I first started, let's say, my "wellness" goals, isn't going to be possible anymore. Actually, it hasn't been possible in months.

It's not that I'm not into this anymore, I absolutely am. I have had to adjust things because the PMS symptoms have become worse and holding back on eating bad food has become extremely hard. I know my body is changing and in general I feel good but I still need to lose more weight. I've decided that I'm upping my calories to 1100/day and my new goal is to be at 165 for my tummy tuck surgery on 2/4/19. That gives me a little over 5 weeks to lose 10 lbs which I think is doable. I'm still aiming for a goal weight of 145. My body seems to like the 170s but I'm not sure if that's laziness or not. I don't like it though and I will continue to work on this, however long it may take. I'm allowing myself to eat what I want for New Year's eve and when we go out for our birthdays but in general, I'm sticking with this new way of life pretty well. I need to always remember that it's been 8 months and since food is my go-to drug of choice, I have to be kind to myself about it which will always be a challenge. As long as I put good food into my body most of the time, I think I'm doing well. Years and years of junk and crap can't be forgotten. I don't want to continue eating like that or should I say, go back to that because I like who I am now and who I'm becoming. I love that I enjoy running again and that I started trail running. I love that I feel a little bad ass with my tattoos when I work out and I enjoy the weight machines at the gym.

My life is different now. I choose healthy eating and exercising before eating badly and being lazy (most of the time LOL!) and that's what's important. No one is perfect and I don't strive for that. What I am striving for is being the best version of me. The tummy tuck is going to help with the jiggly tummy and my happiness. I will be able to walk after and run 6 weeks after. I would like to do a trail race toward the end of 2019 too. We are going to New Orleans in April and I can't wait!

Exciting things are coming!

A Wednesday Update

Things are going well. I know it's been a couple months since I last wrote but things are good.

I'm still losing weight and I'm at 174.2 today. Like I've said before, the weight fluctuates but I usually average a loss of about 2 lbs/week. The 800 cal/day thing has not been happening. It's too hard especially with the running. It's probably around 900-1000 but I'm still being careful most of the time. I'm not going to run more than 3 miles at a time because I don't want to derail my weight loss. When I get to my goal, I will start running more/longer.

I also decided I want the tummy tuck. I saw another dr in Glens Falls who was a lot cheaper than the one in Saratoga. I decided against going to Mexico. It's just too far and I want to be closer to home when all that happens. I'm hoping to have it done late winter/early spring but I need to get to a weight I'm comfortable at for a little while. I'm shooting for around 150 for my vacation in December to Curacao. So 24 lbs in 10 weeks. But, that may not be doable so I'm going to work hard and get as close as I can!

I've still been running and enjoying it a lot. I've been doing trails and road. I decided not to run the Adirondack 5k last weekend because I'd had a rough week and really needed the rest. The Lake Placid 10k is on 10/6. I'm registered for it but I haven't been running more than 3 miles so I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.

Stuff

Things have been going well. I haven't been running as much as I'd like because it took awhile after I got my tattoo worked on again to get out there. I'm hoping when I go on 8/25, it will finally be done.

I walked on a trail last weekend and then ran on a different one a few days ago. I'm enjoying the trails. They aren't as hard on my legs and feet as the pavement.

As for the weight, I'm a little over 186 right now. It's been slow going and as normal, it goes up and down. I'm still tracking everything I eat and while I haven't been perfect all the time, I still haven't had bread and for the most part I keep away from sugar. When I have more of something than I should, it's not anything bad, it's just more than I think I should. I'm the one who set my calorie amount at 800/day. I still don't know if that is right or wrong but for the most part it's worked. I've been doing this losing weight thing for 3 1/2 months now. I feel a ton better and I've gotten to the point where I'm revisiting the idea of having a tummy tuck. I thought about it after I had the gastric bypass but never really thought about it since because I gained some weight back. I went to a dr in Saratoga yesterday for a consultation and it was very expensive. I knew it would be but it was kind of a wake-up seeing the numbers written down. The dr had suggested a beltline lapectomy which is the tummy tuck and then the sides. The total for the at was around $15,000. The tummy tuck alone would be $8900. So, yeah, too much. I posted on one of the gastric bypass groups last night about it and there were some suggestions of having it done in Mexico. I've heard of that before but always thought it was a very scary idea. But now, I'm trying to figure out why I think it's so scary. Our media here has made other countries, including Mexico, seem like a crazy scary place where these surgeries would be done in back alleys. But from what I've read so far, this one place in Tijuana seems just the opposite and they only charge $3400. Is this too good to be true? I have no idea. It's a very interesting idea that I need to get a lot more info about.

I'll keep you posted!

Excitement

Things are going well.

I'm very excited because I'm going to Boston this weekend to see Foo Fighters at Fenway!

My stall broke too so I'm VERY excited about that. I'm down to 188. I haven't been that in a few years. I'm going to be tested this weekend by going to Boston, food-wise but I'm bringing my food so I don't get off track. I know it will be hard but this is very worth it. Only 48 more lbs to go to get to my goal of 140.

Yay! Happy Friday!

Catching Up

It's been a month since I've written and I have a few updates.

So yes, I had pink eye and yes, it sucked. Big time! It was the viral type so I had to wait it out since no meds would help. It started in my left eye and then made its way to my right. Yuck! I was out of work for 3 weeks. I've been back to work for a week and 1/2 and I feel a lot better.

I've been at a weight loss stall for 2 1/2 weeks. The last time I lost anything was 6/24 (I've lost a total of around 27-28 lbs) which is VERY frustrating! I know I've gotten smaller but the scale won't budge except for the same 2 lbs. I've tried upping my calories, lowering them, having a cheat day. Nothing is working. I started measuring myself yesterday so I'm going to that once a week. I guess I could only lose at the rate I was for so long before my body needed a break and to get used to it. I just really hope it doesn't last much longer. I remember having stalls after I had the surgery. I think some of them lasted at least a few weeks.

I also got my leg tattoo worked on more after 3 years. I really like how it's turning out and I should have only one more session to complete it. Mike (the tattoo artist) is leaving to go on the road at the end of Aug so I was getting worried he wasn't going to finish it before he left because in May I went to have more outlining done and I only lasted an hour because of the pain. This time, I lasted 6 because I took a painkiller and ibuprofen. Thank god! I'll have to do the same thing when I go back at the end of Aug.

I booked the plane tickets for Curacao in December and I can't wait!

Tonight we are going to see Halsey at SPAC but the one I really can't wait for is Foo Fighters (finally!!!!) at Fenway in Boston on 7/21. I'm SO excited for that!

So lots of fun things going on and if I could just break this stupid stall, all would be good but I guess it will happen when it happens. LOL!

A Rough Couple of Days

I know there's good and bad all the time. So let's get the bad out of the way first.

I have pink eye... I guess. I've never had it and my dr. wasn't quite sure at first that's what it was but she's treating it as if it is. The problem is, I think it's more because I just feel like crap in general. I have no energy and have to admit that I'm a little down because of it. I was going 150 mph before this happened, between school, work, running, and losing weight so as usual, my body has decided to make me slow down.

There's more good than bad though. I've lost 21 lbs and the running is going well. I'm very proud of myself and have been working very hard losing weight. I'm still not eating processed carbs or sugar and while some days are extremely difficult, other days aren't. That's life in general though for everyone. You have to take the good with the bad.

School has been very challenging but I knew it would be taking a compressed class. I'm working hard and I will get through it. There are only 2 weeks left of this one and then I start another but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I'm very excited that I've booked a trip for us to go to Curacao in December. I'm hoping to be very bathing suit-ready and I might even wear a 2-piece for the first time in my life!

That's it for now. I'll write again soon.

Progress and Dreams

Everything is going well. I’ve lost more weight (down 14 lbs total and 37 to go!), I’ve been keeping up with running, and I feel better in general. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do about Couch 2 5k since I’ve been on the fence about using that program, because for the future, I want to use the Jeff Galloway Run/Walk method of 1 min run/1 min walk. I decided to get a timer app for my phone that I can customize to notify me to run or walk after each minute. I’ve used It once and it worked well so far. I figured I should train now the way I want to run later.

I also started school again last week. I’m attending Arizona State online now and my first class is Abnormal Psychology. It’s very intense because it’s a compressed summer class (only 6 weeks) but I had to start with a summer class because I was going to have to start paying back my student loans since it had been almost 6 months since I last attended classes through Plattsburgh. Juggling the class, life, work and running is a challenge but I’m keeping at it. Eating better has been easier the last 2 weeks since I haven’t been PMS’ing. That was definitely the roughest it’s been so far. 

I’ve been listening to some trail running podcasts. My dream is to start doing trail running and long distance runs on the trails at some point. I have no doubt that I will get there. Things have been going so well and the weight has been coming off, which will make running easier as time goes on. The less weight I have to carry, the better.

I also registered for two races to keep myself motivated. One is a 5k at the end of September and the other is a 10k at the beginning of October. I should be ready by then to tackle these new challenges!

The Stuff of Tuesday

It's been up and down. More up than down.

This eating better/dieting thing is rough. I know, it's never easy for anyone. It's hard not to compare yourself to others though.

My husband has been on his diet for 3 weeks and he has lost 30 lbs. I've been on mine 4 weeks and I've lost 11 lbs. Crazy, right? Yes, his is more restrictive than mine and he has a lot more to lose than I do and yes, he's a guy and they always lose quicker but... wow. It's hard not to be a little jealous. I'm doing my best though and we are very supportive of each other.

I'm happy with my progress. Since this plan is something I came up with myself, I've had to re-evaluate it a few times, adjust here and there. It's not perfect but I need it to work for me, not anyone else. I track my food in an app on my phone but sadly, I become a little obsessed. I have a very addictive personality anyway so once I focus on something, I give it 110%. I'm going to need to relax a bit as of tomorrow because I start school again and the class I'm taking is a compressed summer class so my focus will have to be mainly on that... and running.

I can't forget the running. I finished day 1 of week to of couch 2 5k yesterday. It went well. Some of it (or most) was because I found a new running route that was beautiful. It's by a waterway and there were geese, ducks, baby geese and beautiful scenery in general. The weather was a perfect 71 degrees and not humid. It was great to be out there!

I'm considering signing up for a race. It's a 10k that will be in Lake Placid in October. I'm not sure yet but I'm definitely going to think about it.

Mentally Challenging Monday

As the title states, today has been mentally challenging.

I started PMS'ing today which hasn't been awful in general each month but I definitely feel myself having less tolerance for things. Luckily this only goes on for a couple days.

Of course this time, I don't have food to fall back on when I'm stressed. Today is the start of week 4 of my eating better/trying to lose weight. I've lost 7 lbs so far and I have 54 to go. My first goal is to lose 34 more pounds. I can't wait!

I got back outside yesterday for day 2 of couch 2 5k. I did well but I think I overdid it. I was pretty exhausted for a few hours afterwards and I realized that my head still thinks I can run like I did a few years ago but my body begs to differ.

I'm going to keep at it though!

It will all come back with time, I know that. I took 2 walks today which helped me mentally. I know it will help physically too. I'm looking forward to the day where running is good again. I know it was never easy, so I won't say that but I look forward to it being a regular part of my life again.

I wasn't really sure how to start again. I thought maybe just getting out there doing walk/run intervals would be good but I really need structure. I've always been like that. I'm not a "winging it" type of person. So, the couch 2 5k app is the way I'm going.

I think that's about it for me for now!

Megan

A New Leaf

Hi!

It’s been a few years since I’ve written but it’s finally time to put pen to paper or fingers to keys and start recording my journey again.

Health-wise I’ve been fine in the sense of no major problems. Weight-wise, I’ve gained around 40 lbs which has really made a difference in how I look and feel.

I got off track with eating better mostly when I went back to school in 2015. I also stopped running at that point, which I miss greatly. It’s time to get back on the horse.

Since 4/16/18 I’ve been working on losing weight. Since my needs are different since I had bariatric surgery in 2011, I decided to go with a sort of jump-start option called The 5 Day Pouch Test. The goal is to go back to basics, similar to the days following surgery. The first 2 days are liquid-only and for days 3-5 proteins are added back in. Protein is the most important thing in a bariatric surgery patient’s nutritional needs and we need more than most people. Since my surgery, protein shakes have come a long way and I’ve found some that taste great, are low in sugar and carbs, and really help me to get my daily protein in.

Along with the 5-day jump start, I decided to go processed carb and sugar free.  There are some carbs and sugar in the food I eat but it’s natural for the most part. My main goal with this part of my new journey was to get off bread, which I’ve successfully done.

The first 2 days of the pouch test were difficult and all about carb withdrawals. My 13-hour long headache was evidence of that.

I miss bread but I don’t crave it. It’s very strange for me because I figured out yesterday that I’ve never not had bread or at least some type of processed white flour food. This is the longest I’ve gone without it. As for sugar, I haven’t had that either. Strangely, I don’t really miss it either.

The choice to go processed carb and sugar free was because I finally got to the point in my bariatric journey that I ran out of luck. I was one of the lucky ones who rarely had an issue eating most any type of food after surgery. A few months ago, I started to have issues, especially at night. I would eat something like crackers, go to bed and the wake up a couple hours later to low blood sugar. Since I’ve stopped eating those processed carbs, I no longer have that issue.

I’m also starting to run. I’m doing Couch 2 5k. I started it last Saturday and haven’t been again since. I need to start working it into a routine. The main issue for me is that I’m still not, nor will I ever be, a morning person so it’s either run in the morning or at night after work. My next goal is to start being consistent again. I felt so much better when I ran and I really want it to be part of my life again.

I’ll be back soon!

Megan