A Little Bit of Bragging Is A-Okay!

Yesterday (last night??) was me and Bill's three year anniversary, so he took me on the Spirit of Philadelphia. It's a dinner cruise down the Delaware River and it's nice. We get there, and he had a dozen roses at our table and a bottle of champagne. It was a really nice evening. 

I was good too, I didn't overeat. It was my first experience with a buffet post-surgery and I was a little nervous. But I was good. All the champagne I had, however, probably wasn't the best idea - but hey, it's a special occasion. 

I love that in that photo you can see the Philly skyline. It really sets the whole mood.

And there's me feeling HOT in my dress. I tried this dress on as a joke when my Mom and I were in Ross. I couldn't not buy it after how good it looked and how great I felt in it. It helped that it was only 20 bucks.

Anyway. I just felt obligated to share my photos - mainly because I felt so good in that damn dress and I had such a nice time. We danced our little hearts out too - and Bill doesn't normally dance, but it was a really good time.

If The Shirt Fits

Today was a big day for me. Not only am I down where I was before vacation (which is awesome in and of itself, and was much easier than I expected) but today, I went shopping.

I went out with the goal of going to Torrid. I had a coupon and they had their 50 percent off clearance deal going on. Mom and I got there and stopped in Lane Bryant. I bought a shirt that I had thought about months ago and was now only 10 bucks (AND a smaller size). 

We're walking past Jones New York and I look in the window at a shirt and tell my Mom how I can't wait to be able to go in there and buy that shirt. It's so cute and I just wish I could shop there. We end up going in, because they're having an awesome sale and my Mom needs stuff. So, we're looking for her and I thought to myself "I wonder if this tank top would fit me?"

So I try it on. 

AND IT FITS!

Then, having forgot about the shirt in the window, I'm wandering around and looking for more shirts to try on. 

And I see it. Right there. The shirt. And I grab it. Try it on. ANNNNNNDDDDD IT FITS TOO! It's not a perfect fit, but it fit. (Pardon how terrible the picture is - my Mom isn't good with the camera.)

I can't explain how I felt. This is the first time in a long while where I haven't had to shop in plus size specialty stores or in the women's department. It was an amazing feeling. I just couldn't believe it. 

Best part? I didn't buy anything at Torrid. 

Here's to getting smaller! - And noticeably smaller! Right now, size 20 pants are big on me and 18's are snug. When I started this, I was bursting out of my size 22 pants.

I'm really proud of myself right now. I feel good.

The Challenges of Vacation

So, vacation is a killer. However, even after eating complete and total crap for a week, I only gained a pound. I'm pretty happy with that. And honestly, I really wasn't trying too hard to make sure I didn't eat crap. I wanted to enjoy myself.

And? I really enjoyed vacation. We did a lot - and walked a lot, so I really think that helped. 

The shore was really nice. The weather wasn't great, but we did a lot. Atlantic City, Cape May, the Wildwood boardwalk. Lots of stuff. It's nice, because I finally feel like I look good. I feel good. And it just keeps getting better.

In the parking lot of the Taj Mahal.

Chicago was great too. Saw the Sears Tower (while it still IS the Sears Tower), went to Millennium Park, went to the John Hancock building and saw the Harry Potter Exhibition. Got to spend time with my cousins and Aunt Mary. The weather at night was terrible - really horrible thunder storms, but during the day, it was humid but sunny enough.

Ali and myself in a random Chicago church garden.

Worst part of Chicago was - well, there were two worst parts. Worst thing about Chicago is the traffic. It's terrible - I've never seen it like that before and at all hours of the day. The worst part of my personal trip was, on Saturday night, we went to dinner at Chili's. I had a margarita and, for my meal, I ordered a half of a turkey sandwich and a side salad. So, I eat some of the side salad, a little bit of the sandwich with bread, and then take the meat off of the bread and eat just that. And then, I had another margarita, which was a bad idea. It wasn't the liquor, it was the sheer volume of liquid I was trying to consume. And it was a really, really bad choice. I got so sick - I had to throw up in the bathroom to make things better. It just wouldn't go down. And it was all my own fault. Live and learn, right? I thought I was making better choices but I guess I should have gone without the second drink. Either way, Bill finished the drink for me, so I didn't feel bad about ordering it.

I'm happy with my progress right now. I do, however, need to really buckle down and set up a better plan. 

Looking at pictures makes me feel good now - I can see the weight loss. I've still got a lot to go, but it's not nearly as bad as it was before.

OH! And so, I was at the hairdresser with my Mom the other day. I go because I get bored and have nothing better to do. The hairdresser is a friend of ours and so it's always entertaining. But anyway, the girl who works there, she was asking how I was doing with my band and everything (she's really sweet) and I told her. And Leslie, my Mom's hairdresser's sister, asks how much I have to lose. I told her - I have another 95 to 100 pounds to loose. Her mouth dropped. She then asked, if I didn't mind, how much do I weigh. I don't care who knows - I told her, 253, as of that morning. She was shocked that I weighed that much. It really made me feel good to know that I look better than I could. 

I feel good. I'm looking better. The loss is very noticeable now. I can't wait to get to the end of this journey. I really can't. 

It's Been Put Into Perspective

So, I should probably eat something. I'm not super hungry, but considering it's 2:30 and I haven't had anything yet, I probably should.

253 feels good. Officially just 253. That's 36.7 pounds - gone forever. 

It was a funny feeling. On Monday, I went bowling with my friend Kate and her little sister, Lisa. Lisa is Miss Athlete of the Year and was bowling with a 12 pound ball, which I don't even want to lift. After I had picked it up, I realized that I had been carrying THREE of those around. It's a really good feeling when you can put things into perspective. I can't wait to be able to say I've lost a 5th grader with a book bag. My professor tells me that all the time - when he'd lost a significant amount, his friend told him he'd lost a 5th grader with a book bag. That's what I want.

This coming week will be a challenge for me. Vacation. I had practice with a mini trip over Memorial Day, and somehow, even though I wasn't good about what I ate, I still lost. But this trip will be more challenging. Sunday through Wednesday we're going down the shore. And the problem? I love boardwalk food. I mean, who doesn't? Fried anything. And everything's fried. And it's amazing. We're camping though, so we're going to do some of our own cooking, but it's still tempting. I just have to make sure I keep active while we're away. Nothing will be as bad as the cruise, where it's basically eat-yourself-until-you're-sick everyday. 

Chicago might be a challenge, I'm not sure yet. I think it'll be easy compared to going down the shore. 

Either way, I'm excited. We've got a lot planned for both places and I have a feeling we're going to have a great time.

Another Little Goal

So, I've hit a milestone. I'm no longer able to be considered morbidly obese. I've gotten below the 40 BMI range. I'm at 39.72 BMI, which is being down 36.2 pounds. I'm really proud of myself. There's been a lot of food-oriented family stuff over the past few weeks. I was away for Memorial Day weekend and there have been graduation parties and stuff like that, so I'm doing pretty well with staying on track. 

The only problem I've been having is that, well, my hair is falling out. I'm worried that I'm not getting enough protein in my diet. But I'm going to the doctor tonight, so that's a good thing. I need blood work done anyway, my thyroid has been out of whack lately. Oh well. We'll find out tonight. 

Either way, my nose hasn't stopped running for the past two weeks. Need to deal with that before next week. Bill and I are going down the shore and then flying out to Chicago. I'm pretty excited. 

Oh No! I Look Like A Ginger Kid!

Complaint of the day? Vomiting. 

I got sick this morning after eating chicken for breakfast that was probably too dry. I spent the next twenty minutes in the bathroom throwing it all back up. Great, right? Highly uncomfortable and disgusting. Chicken with ketchup shouldn't come back. Anyway, I think I'm getting too graphic. 

So, I went to the bathroom between classes and looked in the mirror and nearly screamed. My face is covered in broken blood vessels. I look like I have freckles EVERYWHERE. They're really bad. I should have known too, because this always happens when I have to strain while vomiting. I haven't had to since I had the flu in January. I haven't had that with the band yet. I mean, I've thrown up, but mostly it's when I drink something and there's no where for it to go, and I just throw back up the fluid. This wasn't that. I wish it had been. This was so much work and a lot of dry heaving. 

And everyone wonders why I'm so scared of the swine flu. I'm scared of anything that could possibly make me throw up. I've heard horror stories about people who get stomach bugs with the band. I don't want to deal with that right now. 

That was graphic. I apologize. I just needed to talk about it. I'm really worked up about the broken blood vessels. I'm in this rainy-day funk (it's been raining since Saturday) and looking like a freak is bothering me. 

Here's To The Next Step!

So I figured out why I had stopped loosing weight. Really, I hadn't be weighing myself as often due to the fact that I was waking up late and didn't have time to turn on the Wii Fit. Then it hit me. I was on the last 7 of my Pill pack. Now, keep in mind, this was my first month on the Pill. I'd been taking the Depo shot, which I loved, but they don't want you on for more than 2ish years and you don't get your period while on it so I've become accustom to not having it. Anyway, so I figured it out. I was bloated. I hadn't gained anything, but I was bloated. 

So now I'm happy to announce that - we're at 33.3 pounds down! Oh happy days! I'm still slow at this point, but I figured it out. When you average that I started the pre-op diet 11 weeks ago, that's still an average of 3 pounds a week. I'm happy with that. And right this moment, I'm at 256.6. I really want to get below 250 before I go to Chicago later this month. Memorial day weekend. If I work at it hard, I think I can do it. I'd love to go out there at my 40 pound goal. 

I also believe that I've really started to drop more inches without dropping any weight. You can see it leaving without the pounds. Still good, but annoying.

Again, the hardest part right now is making the right choices when I'm not home. Between school and socializing, we eat out a lot. It can become an issue. But what are you going to do? There's not much of a choice sometimes. But I'm working on it. A lot of sushi. And I mean a lot. I love it. It's good for you, not fried and all protein.

Here's to the next 6.7 pounds in 2.5 weeks. It can be done. But like I said, it'll need a lot of dedication.