And I wasn't in the food court...

So...three weeks today since the big surgery and life is going pretty well (for me at least, I mean there's some crazy shit going on in the world otherwise). I am now down 28 lbs and today I had my first NSV (non scale victory) when I put on a blazer that used to require the jaws of life to get out of and now it's actually too big...move aside bitches!!!

I wanted to share a funny (in a sort of morbid way) story from this past weekend. So for those of you who don't know there was a senseless shooting on Saturday in Toronto at the Eaton Centre mall. A guy opened fire in the food court and killed his target (allegedly gang related) and injured 6 others in the process. The point of my story is not to depress you although this is a terrible story that shocked not only the city of Toronto but also the country. But stay with me... The next day I was out at the theatre with my best friend taking in a musical and my phone kept vibrating in my purse, which was annoying because if I had been at home bored off my ass the phone would have been silent all day long. Anyhoo... turns out it was my mom calling. So I called her back in a panic, apparently someone must have died to call me 3 times in succession. Well, luckily nobody died down home, but she was calling to make sure I was still alive since she heard about the shooting. I relieved her obviously just by answering the phone I was clearly alive but she goes on to say..."when i heard the shooting was in the food court I knew you were okay." My how the tables have turned. I swear if this happened just 5 weeks ago and the same shooting situation happened my mother would have been having straw kittens thinking, "oh no, she for sure was in the food court."

Funny the difference 5 weeks can make.

Love, Love, Love
b

8 days down and...

...I am doing pretty awesome actually, I think!

I haven't thought too much about the numbers on the scale, been focusing more on how I feel and just getting through this 2 week liquid diet. For those of you who have never tried a liquid diet, it's basically the diet that fun forgot, but I guess all diets are kind of that way, no? Monday cannot come soon enough as I start the pureed phase of the diet for 2 weeks. I know it sounds dreadful but to me it sounds heavenly right now.

I have been pain free since day 4 and out walking each day, problem free. Today I took my mom out for a pedicure and we walked around a bit and then did a quick shop for some new mini containers for my smaller portions.

So, although I haven't thought much about the numbers on the scale, that certainly doesn't mean I haven't been weighing in each day to see what's happening. Since there was so much fluid in me after surgery with the IV etc...I was up 5 lbs for the first few days. Luckily after day 6 the lbs started to come off. As of this evening I am down 7 lbs since surgery for a total of 19 lbs since April 30 when I began the pre-op fast. I don't really feel any lighter as I still seem to be swollen from the surgery but all in due time. My mom (who has been a GOD send here with me the past 8 days) says that every day she can see my stomach, hips and face getting smaller. I will take it!

I am planning to take pictures to mark my progress as this journey continues. In retrospect I wish I hadn't worn this outfit and I wish I had taken a profile shot but ah well, I will do that going forward. Also, going forward I hope to master the art of not having to put my pics up sideways but what are ya gonna do?

Until next time...

Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life...no I am not getting married!

Well, I figured that since I am heading into my gastric bypass surgery tomorrow morning, today would be as good a day as any to start blogging again.

The next few weeks, months years are going to be a challenge, but one that I am looking forward to with complete, starry eyed optimism. I have survived two weeks on a fast and didn't cheat once, for those of you who know the fatty that I truly am, you will understand how incredibly massive a task that was (no pun intended).

Well...wish me luck friends. I look forward to updating you all on my (hopefully amazing) progress very soon!

xo
b

You may remember me from such films as, Slackers

Well my friends, (aka dad) it’s been a long time [insert some bullshit excuse about how pants-droppingly busy I have been here]. Truth is, I do get really busy at work in the summer, but that’s not really an excuse so let’s go with whatever one you were able to concoct in your head that likely makes me seem way less lazy.

The past 7 months have been pretty uneventful. Aside from sitting around on my ass, trying my hardest to gain back the weight I had lost, I haven’t done much else (outside of being brilliant at my job, of course). The good news is, I succeeded…I managed to gain back all the weight I had lost and a bonus 2 lbs… What do I win, folks? Well aside from the distinct pleasure of now moving back into my fatter girl clothes, not much…although admittedly I celebrated this milestone with many a Big Mac and Whopper over the past few months.

On Monday I made a vow to once again eat healthy and exercise (if my ability to stick to these vows is at all reflective of how I would upkeep my wedding vows, it’s likely for the best that I am single). However, I surge forward with optimism (kinda) on my new journey (I think I need a new word for journey). I have stocked the fridge with healthy, colourful foods and joined a new gym. My new workouts are only 30 minutes, so hopefully the fact that I will be in and out of there will keep me motivated.

Our staff, minus this one skinny little lady who doesn’t have even a pound to lose, has started a Biggest Loser type competition in the office. Each week, we will weigh in and track our % of weight loss. The biggest loser each month gets a movie pass and the big (or small, hopefully) winner at the end of the contest (6 months likely) will get something great too…maybe $, we haven’t really decided but I bet when we do, it will be epic.

This is a pretty lame post, seems in gaining back the weight I have lost some of my wit…I will try harder next time (haven’t you heard me say that before?!)

love, love, love
b

Just 8.625 flu's away from my goal weight

I don't know if I should be happy about this or not but weigh-in Wednesday is upon us yet again and although I am excited, I am sure this week's result will (for lack of a better word) result in a poor weigh-in next week, but oh well....As of this week I am down 31 pounds...yep...8 lbs this week. Thank you stomach flu for that amazing number.

Now I am sure that a lot of that is water weight or muscle or bone (or parts of my intestines that I have no doubt thrown up in the past few days) but I don't think I need all this bone and muscle anyway and I drink plenty of water so I will make up for that water loss quickly. Seriously though, even if next week the scale doesn't move or even if it moves up a couple of pounds, I won't be disappointed because of this week. I know I shouldn't be so excited about something that I didn't really have to work for, but I am...this has totally re-motivated me to keep at it. I now believe that I can lose 50 lbs before my next appearance as a Maid of Honour on July 17...cross your fingers for me!

31 lbs...that's pretty much 1/3 of the way to my final goal and when I break down the big 1-0-0 into smaller increments like that it doesn't make it so scary. I can totally do this and it's not going to be easy (unless of course I seriously get sick like 8.625 more times...do we think that's possible?) but I think I am ready for the challenge. Let's see how long I can keep my stomach shrank from this flu for as long as possible.

Weight Loss...it's kinda like rocket science, but not!

Well folks, it’s “Weigh-In Wednesday” (cue the scary horror movie music here). Actually, I have good news to report…I am down, I am only down 2 lbs, but hey I am 2 lbs lighter than I was last week! The past week hasn’t been too bad, but I have decided that I am not meant to be a person who eats healthy and also works out, I just can’t seem to master both, although I continue to work at it. So last week was about food…I made this home-made salad dressing (Peanut/Lime, it was amazing) and so I had salads for lunch and dinner on most days, with other foods of course, I am not quite that hard core, but still pretty intense eating for me. Except last week I was really lazy in terms of exercise. It doesn’t help that it was cold out, so I didn’t want to get out for a walk, that’s really no excuse since I am still supporting my gym monthly, but whose side are you on?

This week; however, all of the stars have aligned and I have been eating healthy and exercising so next week we should see a bigger loss on the scale. The weather has been so perfect lately. I am actually hoping to hit the beach this week, laying in the sun has to be sort of an aerobic activity I think, I mean you definitely get sweaty sitting in the sun and sweating = calories burned so I am going to go with it. I will likely be nonexistent next week, be aware…if there’s no post next “Weigh-in Wednesday” it’s because I have lost so much weight that I no longer possess the ability to type. It’s a real thing…look it up!

I have been doing a lot of research lately about calories burned doing certain things, like shoveling the driveway or while watching tv for example, I think it needs a whole post to discuss because I think most of us are unaware of how athletic we really are. So stay tuned for that, but what I did read yesterday is that basically to maintain my weight I would have to eat over 2,500 calories a day. Now that’s not a challenge at all, but that’s pretty intense to think that I must have been eating beyond that every day if I was not only maintaining my weight but also gaining weight.

I realize this post is somewhat disjointed, sorry about that; I just have a lot of thoughts in my head that I want to get out. I read an article yesterday (yes I have been doing a lot of reading and researching lately…does that burn any calories?) that talked about the keys to success for people who have managed to lose a lot (i.e. 50 lbs or more) and maintain it and they all talked about the education part of it. I mean they also clearly talked about not being lethargic and eating foods that are natural and not created in a lab somewhere, but education was a big part of it. I would like to think that I am pretty educated on what to eat and what not to eat; I just chose to ignore what I knew. But I am now learning that although I may have had an understanding of what was good and what was bad; there is so much other information that is key to know if you want to lose weight. And now that I am able to make this more about science and logic, it’s making things a bit easier for me to understand.

I can make any food fit in the Canada's Food Guide...give me a real challenge!

Yet again I am starting off a blog apologizing for being a huge slacker...truth is though that I think I get more out of writing this blog than anyone would reading it, so I guess that's why I haven't been dying to get back at it, as I am only disappointing myself. Do I bother coming up with some lame excuse about how busy I have been washing my hair and fighting off boys with a stick? Nah...I will save you the digression. Truth is I have just been lazy (story of my life). The weird thing is that I haven't been lazy for real, but only virtually I guess. I have been exercising pretty regularly but have been lazy in terms of my computer time. What kind of Gen Y kid am I, right?

So that I am being completely honest, as much as I have been rather active lately (going for walks 3-4 times a week and lifting weights, doing abs etc in my apt) I had been (up until Monday) eating pretty shitty. I would be good for 1.5-2 meals a day but snacking was getting a bit out of control. Luckily, because of my newfound athleticism I managed to maintain my 21 lb weight loss, so I am clearly doing something right.

I had a moment of clarity though this past weekend that has set me straight again. I am a maid of honour in July and my dress will be coming in within the next few days, I was laying in bed the other night and I had a vision of myself in the dress and I looked uncannily like a sausage, so I figured it was Monday morning was as good a time as any to start eating right again. So I did and thus far it's been a pretty good week. I went to a movie screening last night and I had something from all four food groups... Grains - popcorn, Fruits & Veggies - corn tortilla chips and Swedish berries, Protein - cheese sauce and Dairy - cheese sauce. Other than this creative nutritional analysis I have been doing well, drinking 8 glasses of water a day, eating 4-6 fruits and veggies a day and choosing whole grains as often as possible.

I have scheduled an appointment with my dietitian (good old Stef) for next week to fully get back on track and figure out what eating plan is going to work best for me. We're going to be meeting every couple of weeks until I am back in the swing of things. I am looking forward to seeing her and returning to my old self-righteous, salad-eating self in no time at all!