SO – As many of you know….this past year has been a year of change for me.  Almost a year ago, I had Gastric Bypass surgery.  Feb 5th will be my one year.  (already!)  It has really flown by.  I have already lost more than half of what I need to lose.  I want to lose 175 lbs from my highest weight.  The weight I want to get down to, I chose from the BMI chart.  It is the highest for “Average” weight for my height.  So far I have lost 120 lbs.  According to the BMI Chart, I started as “Extremely Obese” and now I am simply “Obese”.  I have 30 more lbs to lose before I am just “Overweight”.

One of the things that I have come to enjoy the past year is doing 5K’s.  I like the challenge and seeing my time approve at each race.  Now that it’s cold outside, I find that I’m going to be taking a couple months break from this.  I signed up for the New Years 5K.  I thought what a great idea and great way to start the year and make a commitment to myself to have a healthier, more active year.  I knew it’d be cold, but this winter has turned out to be a really cold one.  When I entered and WON the trip for the 5K I was so happy that I wouldn’t have to run the race in the cold and that I was able to choose a city to go to that I could visit someone I had been wanting to see for a while.

New Years Eve I’m used to going to my friend, Dawn’s, house and playing board games, but this year I was rushing to get signed off work and get to the airport early enough to get checked in and on the plane to fly to Phoenix!  We stuffed our suitcase the night before and on lunch break that day was trying to think of what we might of forgotten to throw in.  Thank goodness Tommie had more time than I did to take care of last minute things.  I was a ball of nerves just thinking of everything that could go wrong, but once we got through check in and had time to sit down before the plane boarded, all my worries just fell away.  Here is a picture from that time:  Ha ha

Once we got to Phoenix it took a while to get our bags and car rented and we were just ready to find the hotel and rest.  The hotel was nice and had the things I had requested from the agent.  (I wanted free breakfast and a fridge and microwave in our room)  It was about 10 minutes from where the race was being held the next morning.  We got out to the race site early, since we still had to pick up our gear and check in.  It was easy to find and it was a little cool, temperature wise, but it was perfect running weather!!  I went around and got my freebies from what they were handing out and took a few pictures, then we went back to the car and changed into our race shirts.  The race wasn’t “officially” timed, but they had a clock at the finish line, and I used my phone app.  From what I could tell, I finished the race in about 40 mins and Tommie finished in 44.  Looking back at my other races, I think this was my fastest time yet!  The coarse was flat for the most part.  It was very nice.

NOW – the main reason I chose Phoenix is because my cousin, Eric, lived there and I have wanted to go see him for the longest time and just haven’t made it.  Last time we saw each other, I was 21 and he was 17.  We had kept in touch online, here and there, but in that time, this was the first opportunity to see each other.  I had never been to Phoenix.  (Well, I think I went when I was too young to remember, but that doesn’t count)  I really enjoyed the city!  I think if I had to chose somewhere else to move, that this would have to be it!  Most everyone we came in contact with was very friendly.  The city was mostly flat, (making it great for walking and/or riding bikes) and it was surrounded by little mountains that popped up from the otherwise flat landscape.  All the roads were like 6 to 8 lanes wide and I had no stress, whatsoever of driving there.  There were a few confusing spots I came across, but for the most part, I felt very comfortable driving there.  Now, I have no idea how miserable it is in the summer, but being there in the winter was very pleasant!

I didn’t see as much as the city as I would’ve liked, but I did get some visiting in.  It was good to catch up with my cousin, Eric and meet his girlfriend, Calandra.

We mostly just visited at their house.  We did go a few places though.  They took me down to the First Friday’s that they have in Phoenix.  Artists are out there selling things and some bands play.  We have something similar in KC, but I have never went to it.  Eric had a friend that sells his paintings there and when he described them to me, I thought it would be something neat to see.  http://kirkohara.com/  He paints all his painting with his mouth, due to a disease he was born with that limits his use with his hands.  His paintings are wonderful.  I ended up buying two poster prints.  It was hard to find parking down there, but we eventually got lucky and found a space not too far.  We also ended up going out to eat with them several places, a Mexican place, a 50’s diner and an American Indian Fry Bread House.  They were all good.  We had also eaten at several places, just the two of us.  They had a lot of places to eat in Phoenix that we don’t have here.  The last night Calandra drove us up to the top of “South Mountain”.  We got there just in time to see the sun set and we could see the lights of the city from up there.  It was very beautiful.  Tommie got sick while we were out of town, so he was feeling bad by then, but I LOVED it.  If I lived there, I’d have to go back and explore that more!

Something neat happened while I was there.  I know not everyone believes in the afterlife, but I’ve always been open to the possibility of it.  I was sitting in Eric’s living room and talking with him and I saw a hummingbird flying around outside his sliding back door.  It flew up to the door and then it landed on the couch that was right outside, then it proceeded to fly around out there for a while and land in a few places before flying off.  When I first saw it I said “Oh look!!!!  A hummingbird!”  Eric just said “Are you kidding me?”  Then he told me about talking with his Dad’s widow and she said when she had talked to a medium, the Medium had told her that Uncle Kenny sent hummingbirds around when he was saying “hi”.  He said it had been a long time since he had seen one and had nothing out there that would attract one.  He said his father had been a bird watcher.  SO – anyway, that gave us a good feeling.  I thought “Uncle Kenny is happy that we’re together again for a visit after all this time.” 😀

I enjoyed my time there and it is some place that I’d like to go back to some day.  It was very hard to come back to Kansas City knowing that it was going to be snowing and have temperatures in the single digits and negative digits.  On the way back, in Phoenix, they had the full body scanner we had to go through at the airport.  Tommie denied going through it and went for the full body pat down.  They were nice about it though and explained everything as they were doing it.  Luckily we left early to get to the airport though, because we needed it with the long lines everywhere there.  We are very spoilt with our KC airport.  When we got home and opened the suitcase I also had a slip in there that our luggage had been opened and searched.  Good thing they got it back closed, because I really had to work to get everything jammed in there.  Haha.

Now that I’m home, I have a LOT to get done this month and also have to get back on track with my diet and exercise.  Thanks for reading my blog and checking up with me.

SO – We went out of town for 5 days.  (I’ll write about that next time)  When I got back to town and got home, I found my cat dead.  I knew it was coming, but wasn’t expecting it yet.  My poor baby.  I hate that it happened when we weren’t here and I hope she wasn’t miserable (more than normal) while we were gone.  I had my Grandma coming over daily to check on the cats, but Forrest is the type of cat that hides all the time and doesn’t come out to say hi to anyone but us.  Grandma would find her (usually behind the couch) just to lay eyes on her and confirm she was OK.  Which she had.  The last day before we came home though it snowed and she wasn’t able to make it over.  Though she made sure the cats had clean litter-boxes and plenty of food and water to make it an extra day because of the weather and her being home-bound.  Well – between then and when we got home, she passed.  I saw her laying in a spot that she normally wouldn’t lay and not moving, so I just knew when I saw her.  I went down and said her name, but no response.  So had to go tell Tommie.

In the past I’ve always had to make that dreaded decision to have a pet put to sleep.  That is the WORST.  You feel responsible for the pets death….well, I always did.  Even if it’s the best choice.  I hate it.  We almost got to that point with Forrest, but I kept choosing to try to just make her feel better.  I had a lot of tears yesterday.  Today we called the vet to see what our options were.  Since the ground is frozen we couldn’t bury her ourselves, so we brought her into the vet’s today to have her cremated.  I’m going to miss her.  She was a good pet to us.

She was 14 1/2 years old.  Born in 1999, we have had her for most of our marriage.  I got her (and her adoptive sister) from the pound in Gladstone.  She has always been a skiddish cat.  She was just a little kitten when we got her.  Her tail was twice as long as she was, and she just had to grow into it.  When we brought her home, all she wanted to do was hide.  If there was a small hole to be found, she’d crawl into it and freak me out.  As a kitten she got caught IN the wall.  She got caught behind the cabinets.  She crawled up into furniture.  It was very stressful.  She’d get in tight spaces and just meow and I’d freak that she was stuck and I couldn’t reach her.  That is where she gets her name from.  From the movie, Forrest Gump.  “Run, Forrest!  Run!!!!”  That is what she’d do when she saw people.

It took a while, but eventually she came around and would let us pet her and cuddle her.  It took years, but she did get there.  She never did, even in old age, though, let us pick her up.  It made her very uncomfortable.  We could pick her up, but she was waiting with baited breath the whole time to find the opportunity to jump down.  She enjoyed having her butt beat.  We could slap her hind quarters for hours and she’s just love it, coming back for more and giving us love nips.  She was very playful, giving us little bites that barely touched the skin.  She loved to jump on my lap anytime I was sitting or laying down and put her wet nose on any exposed skin and just sit there forever like that, with her forehead against my arm and nose touching me.  She really loved us.

She would also bring all the toys we had and carry them, meowing the whole way, and lay them in our shoes or outside our door or on our bed.  She has even brought whole CD’s up from the living room to the bedroom for us.  I’d throw the toys back downstairs and she’d carry them up again.  Always made me smile.  She also had the softest fur!

There have been very few people that she has let near enough to her to pet her.  I can count them on one hand.  If you were one of them, feel very fortunate.  She also never really got along with our other cats.  She could usually hold her own, but our newest addition, Poopy, would not leave her alone and at one point I was really looking to give him away because he would not leave her alone and he’s so much bigger than her.  Every once in a while you’d see them all snuggled together or grooming each other and all would be fine, and then other times you’d hear hissing and screeching, and see blood streaks on the wall.

Over a year ago now, she started to feel bad.  She was coming out more often and laying in the open against the walls or vents and then she got to where she was throwing up a lot.  Every day, she’d throw up and here towards the end she was losing weight, and not grooming herself like she should. We were giving her medicine to try to help inflammation she was obviously having in her intestinal track and giving her food for sensitive stomachs, but she was getting old and I knew her time was coming.

R.I.P., Old Woman.  Thank you for coming into our lives and sharing yours with us.  We will miss you.  You were a great pet to us.

This is a busy, busy, busy time of year!  It’s also a nice time of year, because you get to spend time with friends and family that you might not see every day.  I like the years that my Dad’s side of the family has the family dinner on another day OTHER than Christmas Day, because that way I can fit both sides of the family in.  This is one of those years.  I’m just hoping the weather doesn’t get bad and mess with it.

We’re planning on going to my Dad’s side family dinner on Sunday.  Christmas Eve I always spend with my Grandma Joan and then Christmas Day I think my mom’s family is getting together.  Not sure of the details yet though.  Usually I do New Years Eve at my friend, Dawn’s, house, but this year we’ll be traveling.  Christmas always sneaks up on me, because I’m not at ALL organized.  I’m really glad we did the kids gift exchanges at Thanksgiving, because I didn’t have to worry about it this month!!  I was going to do Christmas cards this year, but it didn’t happen.  Maybe next year.  My Mom sent out Christmas Cards though with the whole family’s photos in them that I took while at my sister’s.  I got a few calls from people who saw my photo.  These are people who aren’t online so haven’t seen me and were amazed at the difference.  There will be several people I see this coming week that I haven’t seen in a while.

I think in my last post I mentioned that I wasn’t sure if I could get off work for the trip that I won.  Well, my manager let me off!  We chose to go to Scottsdale Arizona to do the race.  I chose this location for two reasons.  #1 – it was a WARMER place to run the Commitment Day 5K we’ll be doing and #2 – My cousin, Eric, lives there and I’ve been wanting to go see him FOREVER and it just hasn’t happened.  You can’t even IMAGINE how excited I am to get to see him and meet his long time girlfriend.  I think it’s been over 15 years since I have seen Eric in person.  I haven’t been to Arizona since I was a little girl, and Tommie has never been, so it’ll be something new for us!  I love going to new places! So anyway.  They sent me a “certificate” that I had to call and use for the trip.  I couldn’t book it online, I had to call and have an agent book everything for me.  Not easy for me to let someone else do all the planning/research for me for a trip.  I was nervous when I got the certificate, because it says to contact them at least 60 days prior to trip, but here it was a week and a half prior!  It all worked out though.  Of coarse the prize amount was not enough for a trip for two, but it DID cover the plane tickets and part of the hotel.

So – they ended up getting me booked.  Flight, hotel and rental car.  I THEN had to go and overnight the certificate they sent me yesterday BACK to them.  I feel better now that everything is booked, but since I didn’t do it personally, It’s going to make me anxious until I’m finally there and have no travel complications!  I DO feel good though about not being worried about having to ask for a seat belt extender for the plane.

When I was at work yesterday my co-worker told me the whole time I was in her cubicle talking to her, I was pulling up my pants.  Ha ha.  I hadn’t noticed.  I HAD worn some pants that were a size 24 and I had been wearing 18’s….but they were elastic waist, so they sort fit OK.   I started out wearing a 28/30.  I ordered some size 16 pants the other day, just to see if I had gone down another size.  Well – those came in today.  When I pulled them out of the package and looked at them I said “There is NO WAY that’s going to fit over my big butt!”  I tried them on though and they ALL fit!  Who knew!?!?  Guess I have gone down to a size 16 now!  At least in pants.  I don’t think I’ve been this size since maybe early high school?  It just amazes me.  I just really really hope I’m able to keep losing and make it to my final goal.  I have another 55 lbs to go to reach that, but I’ve already lost over 120!  It is getting harder now though.  I’ve had a couple people who have seen me from behind and been unsure if it was me, at work.  They’ll say “Amy?” and I’ll turn around and they were like “Wow!  I wasn’t sure if that was you or not.  You keep losing!”

Tommie ended up getting me an Aria scale to go with my fitbit.  So now, every time I weigh myself it automatically sync’s with my fitbit account and gets recorded there.  It’s pretty neat.  It also measures body fat percentage.  It keeps a separate profile for Tommie and I.  I ended up washing and drying my fitbit.  It was working fine still, but the battery was draining faster.  Tommie just got me a new one.  So that was a Merry Christmas to me!  Tommie has been so great this past year in being supportive and losing weight with me.  It’s been a real life saver.  He’s always been a pretty supportive husband though when it comes to stuff like that.

So – what is everyone’s New Years Resolutions going to be?  If you do that sort of thing. 😀

Well – Tonight Tommie and I did our last 5K of the year.  We walked our first on in June of this year and this one makes 7 that we have done thus far.  We also did one 10K.  I feel very blessed that I’ve been able to do this (and enjoy it).  The last two races we did were in such cold weather!!  There were two races this weekend, originally, I was planning on doing another one, because it was inside (in the caves), but had two people say they wanted to do this one, so I changed which one I signed up for. This one was close to the house also, in North Kansas City.   I didn’t sign Tommie up, because I knew he wouldn’t want to run out in the cold, but when he heard I had signed up, he sighed and said “I can’t let you do this alone – sign me up.”  Luckily I did, because the other two people had things come up where they couldn’t do it, so it was just the two of us.  I decided to not try to beat my time this time and walk the whole thing with Tommie.  It was SO cold!  It was ran in the dark.  I’m glad I did it though.

The next race we are signed up for is the Commitment Day Race.  That will be on January 1st and it’s a way to start out the new year, committing yourself to a healthy lifestyle.  The site had a contest to win a trip for two to any city that is holding the race, so you can travel and run the race in any city you like.  I don’t know why I entered, because that is a bad time for us to take off work, but I did.  Then of course, I ended up winning.  I’m not sure yet if I’m going to be able to accept the prize.  First I have to talk to my manager to see if it’s even possible.  I have also asked them if I can take the prize and run the race in my city and use the voucher at another time.  They said they would check with their legal department.  I had asked them that, because she said the prize came in the way of an American Express voucher and I’d make the travel plans myself.  I should know more details about it on Monday.  I think I’ll wait to hear what they say before talking to my manager.

When I was in Cincinnati for the Thanksgiving Day Race, I won a free shirt by being the closest person to answer a question right.  Even though they said I won, I didn’t get the prize, because they wanted me to meet with them after the race (not on the same day) to get the shirt, but I wasn’t going to be in town and they didn’t’ really arrange any other options for me.  That was fine though.  I also won some Royals tickets at another race we did.  I took Hannah to that game with me.  At least I was able to use one prize I won!  Ha ha.

Recently I stopped taking my acid reflux medicine to see if I could go without it.  So far I’ve been totally fine.  This makes me so happy.  I have some serious family history to do with acid reflux that I don’t want to suffer from.  I was headed down that path.  This takes me down to one prescription that I have to take now, and that is something I’ll have to take the rest of my life, no matter what.  That makes me feel great that I’m off all my medicine!!

Holiday season is coming up and I’m looking forward to spending it with friends and family.  I’m also hoping that the new year brings good things and goals met.  Hope it also bring more time with friends and family and new experiences.  I want to thank you all that are part of my life.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year….

It has turned bitter cold here in Kansas City!!  Because of that and because of Tommie starting a new job this past week, we have not done our morning walks since getting back from Kentucky.  It’s been a pretty lazy week.  With that being said, the scale actually moved DOWN a bit this past week!  It’s funny how you can exercise all the time and then when you take a break is when the scale starts to move again.  Ah well, I’ll take it where I can get it.

We had intentions of walking yesterday, but ended up not, so today Tommie dragged me to the gym.  I was surprised that I lasted as long as I did on the treadmill, because for some reason, I get bored and tired quickly on treadmills.  They got some new one’s the community center.  The new one’s they have are really, really nice…but they lack one thing that the old one’s have that I LOVE.  The old one’s have fans built in that come on after you’ve been walking a little while.  It SO helps with keeping you cool when you’re working up a sweat.  Tonight I ended up trying the “random” setting on the incline, so I was walking up and down hills and I liked the variety of it.  I brought my Kindle and read some of my book while I walked.  That’s one of the good things with walking on the treadmill is you can catch up on your reading. 🙂  Ended up walking for a little less than an hour.  They were closing, so had to leave.  Saw Dawn on the way out and said hi.  She was there for a staff meeting.

Went to my friend Lisa’a Dad’s visitation this weekend.  I was so sad to hear that her Dad had passed away.  He had a long battle with ALS.  I can’t IMAGINE losing a parent.  I was glad that she let us know and that I was able to attend and give my condolences to her and her Mom and sister.  We had classmates we graduated with that handled the visitation and the flowers.  I know it probably helped having people you personally know help you through that process.

SO, a few weeks back I ended up accidentally washing my fitbit.  It went through the washer AND dryer.  When it came out the other end, it worked perfectly still, but over the following week, I noticed that it just wasn’t staying charged as long.  It usually stays charged for a week, but now it was running down in a couple of days.  I was just going to live with it, but Tommie ended up getting me a new one.  This time he got me the burgundy one, so if we both happen to take them off and have them sitting near each other, we won’t be confused on which one belongs to who.  Tommie also got me the Aria scale, but it set up OK and then the display wouldn’t come on at all, so he’s going to have to exchange it.  I was so excited, just to be disappointed.  So, if and when we get the replacement, that’ll be cool.

I actually cooked several recipes from Pinterest this weekend.  Tommie loves it when I cook, because I don’t do it very often. I picked out a few one’s that I wanted to try and bought the ingredients.  I still have two more to make, but we have a few left overs to get us by the next few days.

My sister flew to London this week.  Her husband was going there for business and she was able to go with him and they’ll be able to sight see together when he’s not working.  Her Mother in Law came down to stay with the kids while they are gone.  I’m excited for her.  I’ve ALWAYS wanted to go to Europe.  Can’t wait to hear about her trip and see the photos she takes.

Thought I’d put in a pic of my family that we took while in Kentucky here at the end.  Funny thing about the photo is on my camera, the delayed photo setting on my camera had “1 second” and “2 seconds”….so of coarse I chose the 2 seconds and I’d hit the button and run and freeze right as the camera would shoot.  I’m surprised they turned out as well as they did!!  I have a remote switch that I had for my previous camera, I just need to find it and see if I can configure it for this one.  If not, I’m going to have to invest in a new one.  Are they serious?  2 second delay is the longest???

Well – Today was back to the work world.  It was so nice to be able to travel to Cincinnati to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  Now that I’m back to work I realize how fast the end of the year is coming.  It is a busy and stressful time at work.  I have so much to do and get caught up on.

While in Cincinnati, Tommie and I participated in our first 10K, with my sister, Billie.  I had no idea what to expect.  I set a goal for myself of finishing in under 2 hours.  I wasn’t sure how I’d tire out and slow down during the race.  I walked with Tommie up until about 4 1/2 or so miles.  It was FREEZING!!  It was 19 degrees when we got there with a wind chill of 11 degrees!  Once we were standing outside waiting for the race to start, my feet starting going numb.  I had two layers of socks on, two layers of pants and three layers of shirts plus a hoodie.  It took two miles before I started to be able to feel my feet again.  That was a bit painful. The course brought us through two states. We crossed the state line from Ohio into Kentucky and back. My parents and Jonathan (my brother in law) came out to watch the race and cheer us on.  It was nice to see them at mile 3 and at the finish line.  My Mom got a few pics.  This is one of my favorites.  I turned back to say bye and you can see my breath in the sun.  This was half way through.

I ended up finishing the race in 1:38 minutes.  I was very pleased with that time…..even if it is quite a bit slower than my 5K pace.  Our next 5K will be next weekend.  We’ll be doing the Christmas Light Run in North Kansas City on Dec 14th.  We have a few friends who will be joining us for it.  It will be a night walk/run, so not sure how cold it’s going to be.

I fell off my diet a bit while on vacation, so gained a few pounds.  Time to get back on track.  Also – after the race, I had a bit of a scary moment.  As we were picking up our freebies, I drank half a bottle of sample size Sunny D.  About 5 mins or so after drinking it I started getting horrible pains in my stomach.  It was double over pain and I sort of lost my footing a bit and had to hold on to my sister.  Felt a little light headed.  I ended up having to get out of line and find somewhere to sit down before I passed out.  It passed after several minutes (or what felt like several minutes), but it was NOT pleasant.  I have had some discomfort when I drink since surgery.  I’m not sure if I developed an ulcer or anything and the acid in the drink caused the pain or not?  It’s something I should really bring up to my surgeon.  I know he’s mentioned going in with a scope to check it out if I keep having discomfort.  It just hasn’t been bad enough to mention my past few visits.  I know I had my sister worried.  I was secretly worried, myself, for a little while.

Billie, Jonathan, Tommie and I went and saw the second Hunger Games movie.  Billie is the only one that has read the books, so she was amused at our reactions to the movie and our guesses on what will happen in the last movie.  This movie was nothing like I expected, so I’m assuming my guesses for the last movie are way off too.  I have the books, but probably won’t read them until after all the movies come out.

I feel I have reached a point in my weight loss where it is becoming harder.  I think this might be the point where people who are going to gain the weight back start to gain.  Yes – already.  I think I have reached the end of my “honeymoon phase”.  The good thing though is that I’ve gotten this far and I am able to be more active.  I’m REALLY having to watch what I eat, because at this point, I can pretty much eat whatever I like.  Granted, I can’t eat as much as I used to, but if I don’t eat the right TYPE of food, I don’t lose.  I didn’t get to the weight that I did because losing weight is easy for me.  My body fights against me at every turn.  It’s not even that I always eat more than others – my metabolism really sucks. I’ve been stalled for a couple months now.  I gained a few over the holiday and we still have another holiday to come, which I’ll be spending celebrating at three different family dinners, at least!  It’s a rough time of year, but a fun time of year.  I tend to just forget things and enjoy myself for the couple of months.  The colder weather requires a change up of the workout routine also.  I have 60 more lbs to go to reach my final goal weight.  My Grandma has always told me that I’m stubborn enough to do it if I want.  We shall see!  Ha ha.  For a while I was excited at what I saw in pictures on my loss.  I really started seeing it.  Now though it seems my mind has adjusted and I just see my fat self again.

While in Cincinnati, we brought the kids their Christmas gifts and let them open them, since we’d all be together.  It was really nice to be able to see them open them.  I’m sure the kids loved it too!!  I wasn’t expecting gifts myself, but got several.  I’ll probably post about them later on Facebook.  I’m still trying to gather myself now that I’m back.

When I got back I had my blood work results waiting for me.  All my blood work is looking wonderful.  I’m SLIGHTLY low on Iron, so I’ll just have them keep an eye on that in the future.  Sometimes with Gastric Bypass patients, we have issues with Iron absorbency and I might need to get some Iron infusions in the future.  It had been three years since they had checked my cholesterol.  At that point (and prior) I had been borderline high cholesterol.  I was on medicine for it for a while before I decided to stop taking it.  I was happy to see that my levels were completely normal now.  I’m now down to two prescriptions.  (one I will always have to take)  I’m thinking I can stop taking my acid reflux medicine if and when I have a scope done to make sure everything is OK there.  Another nice thing that has happened is that I haven’t had a “stomach episode” ever since surgery!  That means so much to me!  They never could figure out the cause for it, but it was very painful and horrible when it happened.  I had an episode shortly before surgery and I don’t think I’ve gone this far in between episodes for YEARS, so ((knock on wood)) I’m hoping they are a part of my past forever!

Well – I worked late trying to figure out my numbers with work, and I’m ready to get away from the computer, so I’m going to go ahead and end my entry here. Thanks for reading!

Well, Thanksgiving is fast approaching.  This year we are headed to Kentucky, to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  This has always been a hard time of the year for me to travel with work.  This year Thanksgiving falls so close to the end of the month, but I’m thankful that my boss let me have it off so I can spend the holiday with the rest of my family.  We are all going to be able to make it to my sister’s this year.  It will just be our immediate little family unit and spouses and kiddos.

I haven’t lost a lot of weight in several months, but I have remained on the downside of 200, so that makes me happy.  I still have somewhere between 50 and 60 lbs to go until my final goal though.  That is a lot, especially with my weight not changing.  It’s getting harder.  I’ve been trying to keep up with walking, even though it’s been SO cold outside, but we have really slacked with the strength training this past month.

I had my wellness exam this week.  Doctor seemed happy with my progress.  The nurse got a normal blood pressure reading, but the doctor always double checks, since I’m sort of a hard read and he got a much lower one. He went ahead and told me I can stop taking my blood pressure medicine!  SO – I’m slowly going off my meds.  I might try to wean myself off my acid reflux medicine also.  I haven’t had any acid reflux since my surgery, but I have had some stomach discomfort when I’ve tried to stop taking them, so I’m still taking them at the moment.  If I get rid of that though, I’ll just have my thyroid meds, which there is no stopping that.  Since I don’t have a thyroid, that is one pill I will have to take the rest of my life.  I also had my doctor add a few things to check on my blood work.  (Iron and B12 levels)  I suppose I’ll get the results of that when I’m back from our trip.

SO – the high on Thanksgiving in Cincinnati will be 38, so that means early in the morning when we head to the 10K, it’s going to be COLD!!  My goal for the 10K is to finish it in under 2 hours…..oh, and to not be the last person to finish. 😀  I’m planning on walking with Tommie, so our times will be the same, whatever it is.  My sister will finish in about 1 hour and plans on coming back and finding us to cheer us on.  Hopefully at that point I’ll be throwing coats at them as I’ll be ready to shed some layers, but not ready to throw them in the donate barrels, since I’m newly in my size, everything I own is new.  I’m still trying to decide what to wear, how many layers, how heavy of a coat/jacket, hats, no hats, etc.  I feel like I’m packing everything I own!  Tommie and I always tend to overpack for trips.

The kids will have a mini-Christmas while we are there.  Since we’ll be together, they are going to open presents from all of us.  We have a carload, since the Great Grandma’s are sending things down with us on top of what we got.  I’ve been in contact with my niece, Susie.  She has come to the age where she enjoys talking on the phone, so I get random calls now.  She called last night to remind me to bring my swimsuit, in case I want to get into the hot tub.  I said “Oh, I don’t know if I’ll want to do that, it’s so cold!”  She said “It’s a hoooooooooooooooooot tub!  It doesn’t matter if it’s cold out!”  Ha ha.  Seeing the pictures of snow on the ground at their house is not really putting me in the mood to pack a swimsuit.

Well – we’re about to head out on the road.  Hoping the storms stay out of our way.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and are able to spend time with loved one’s.

Well, I have a few good things to report since last post.

First thing I have is that I had a follow up appointment with my endocrinologist.  As many of you know, I had thyroid cancer in 1994 when I was 19 years old.  I had my thyroid removed and radiation treatment to make sure all tissue was destroyed.  I was lucky to have a wonderful doctor at the time that caught it and was able to catch it all and have it removed before it spread further.  BUT, because of that, I have had some permanent changes to my body, and will be on Synthroid medicine for the rest of my life.  SO – my follow up appointment with my endocrinologist was just a routine visit to check and make sure my medicine levels were correct.

She lowered my medicine again on this visit.  (2nd time since surgery)  She also pricked my finger to check my A1C levels.  Being overweight for so long, I have been “pre-diabetes” for a while now.  Not really bad enough to be treated for it, but enough to have them keep a close eye on me to make sure it didn’t get worse.  Well, since surgery she has told me that I am FAR from pre-diabetes.  She told me this visit that the surgery has solved a lot of problems for me and she was happy I had it.  She said that I’m so far from pre-diabetes now that she’s not even going to monitor me for it any more.  She said also, with my cancer, that it’s now been so long and all my tests and full body scans have come back negative that she’s going to stop being so aggressive with that also.  Sounds like I’m in the all clear there!  Of coarse, I’ll go back yearly to check and make sure I’m on the right dose of medicine, but things are looking good there.

Second thing I have to report is that I have hit my second goal!!  I have reached ONEderland.  In the Weight Loss Surgery community, that means that I have gotten under 200 lbs now.  I hit a stall for like two months, or close to that, and it was just right above my second goal, so it’s been driving me crazy!  I have no idea how people get such good picture of their scales, because mine all sucked, but here it is:

I haven’t been this weight for a LONG time.  Probably since high school.  Of coarse I don’t look as good as I did when I was younger, but hey, I’m starting to show my age now.  I really don’t know when I became an old lady, it just happened.  I am still fat and feel fat, but I’ve also come a long way from where I was.

I get amazed about how the same weight looks SO different on different people.  When people say how much they weigh in the groups I just look at them and think “I wish I looked THAT good at that weight!”  Right now my husband and I are the same weight, but of coarse he’s a stick figure.  BUT he has a foot of height on top of me.  I have a little under 60 lbs left to lose before I hit my final goal.  I have about 20 more lbs to lose before I hit my next goal.  It’s slowing down a lot now though, so it’s going to take a lot longer than it did for me to get to this point.

I appreciate all the support and kind words people have given me.  I’m very lucky to be surrounded by many loving friends and family.  I have a great circle of people around me.

Nothing really new to report on the weight loss front.  Still lingering over my 2nd goal.  My body is trying to frustrate me.  Why couldn’t I hit my stall right AFTER making that goal??  Ha ha.  Nope, it stalls one pound BEFORE that goal and goes up and down between two pounds.  COME ON!!  I suppose if I tried harder I could break it, and I might get to that point soon.

We had an off week last week with exercise.  Life just got in the way.  SO – this week Tommie decided we were going to get up at the butt-crack of dawn and get our walks in first thing in the morning.  Day Lights Saving Time has started, so by the time we get home in the evenings, it’s already dark outside.  So in the morning, we get out of bed, immediately get dressed and bundled up and just head out the door and get in two miles in the neighborhood.  It’s been pretty cold outside.  I put in like 10 kleenex in the my pockets and go.  I feel like I’m constantly blowing my nose.  We had a good run this week, we walked every morning.  BUT we haven’t made it to the gym to lift weights.  We are really slacking off there.  At some point, we need to get back into that routine.

Our next 5K is the Girls on the Run 5K out at Arrowhead Stadium next weekend.  It will support the running group that our friend’s daughter, Mia, is in.  It will be the last 5K before we do the 10K on Thanksgiving morning in Cincinnati.  I had started the Couch to 5K program, but now I’ve had that break I feel like I need to start over from day one on it.  I haven’t decided what I’m going to do there yet.

In other news, Tommie accepted a new job.  He’s been at his current company for a while now, but earlier this week he was contacted by another company who wanted to talk to him.  One of his ex coworkers works at this company and must have given them his name.  It’s a smaller and newer company, but the interview went well and they pretty much immediately offered him a position.  He has decided to take it.  He gave his notice at work yesterday.  I hope this all works out for the best and that he loves his new job.  He’s been sort of wanting a change and I hope this will be what he was looking for.  He’ll have a bit longer drive to work, since it’s located in Overland Park, Kansas.  He will actually be not too far from my office building when I go into work.  Change is always hard, but you never know if it’s better unless you’re willing to take the leap.

In a little over two weeks, we’ll be heading to my sister’s to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  It’s always nice when we can find ourselves all in one place.  We are spread out all over the U.S!  My sister and her family in Kentucky, my brother and his family in Florida and my parents in Maryland.  I feel blessed that I was able to take off work to be there with everyone.   Tommie will start his new job as soon as we make it back into town.  Looking forward to seeing all my nieces and nephews.  We’ll be having an early Christmas for them and let them open some gifts, since we’ll all be together.  They should enjoy that! 😀

Well, Nothing much else to report.  Hope everyone else is doing well!

I have never been a big shopper.  I’m not one of those women who go shopping for fun.  Especially clothes shopping!  I always hated having to go try clothes on.  Constantly having to take your shoes off and mess up your hair trying on so many clothes.  When it came to clothes, a lot of times I’d just order from a catalog and send back what I didn’t like.  I know this isn’t the cheapest way to shop, since you’re losing money on the shipping, having to send things back.  Also though, being plus size, the “in store” selections are very limited.  Only certain stores carry “plus size” and even some of those only go up to a certain size.  I just preferred to order via catalog and not deal with the stores.

Fast forward to lately.  I’m reaching the upper sizes of being able to shop in a normal store and pick up clothes wherever I go.  I was hoping I’d like shopping a bit more, but nope.  Still hate the going to stores and sorting through things and trying things on.  BUT we were at Target the other night and I decided I wanted to look for a few workout pants.  We went over to that department and I found several I thought would work.  I still didn’t feel like trying them on, so I just decided to grab a hand full and bring them home and would just bring back what I didn’t like.  (Tommie even offered to return them for me if I didn’t like them or they didn’t fit.)  The brand I got I knew ran a little small from what I was used to, so I ended up buying some XXL, since they came in those. (These were form fitting clothes)  Ends up, they all fit and I didn’t have to return anything!  Tommie commented that in all the years we’ve been married I’ve never been able to go to Target and leave with clothes that I would wear.  I think he was as excited for me as I was for myself. 🙂  I know Target carries Plus Size, but it’s never been really anything I could wear.

So anyway, another size down and I won’t have to shop in the Plus Size Department and will be able to add even more stores to my list to chose from.  That is exciting to me.  I’ve always said if I could wear normal clothes my style would be so different…..I’ve become so lazy and sloppy with my own style though (or lack there of), over the years now that I think I’m set in my ways. Time will tell.  I’m all about comfort and covering my fat.  That is my style.  Ha ha.

Another thing I’ve been excited about is now being able to wear TShirts, oh and jeans!  Feels so good to wear jeans again and just every day of the mill Tshirts.  I’ve been buying a few now that I can wear them.  Since Tommie has been losing weight with me, he’s gone down in size, so I’ve been taking some of his also.  We currently weigh the SAME weight.  ((Though he has a foot on me in the height department))  He laughs at me when I take a picture of myself.  He teases “Stop loving yourself.”  I reply “Leave me alone!  Let me love myself!”  ha ha.  I am just amazed when I see pictures, because that is when I can see the weight loss.  I don’t always see it looking down at myself, because I just see me sticking out in all the same places, and my big belly and double chin and saggy skin.  But in photos, I can see what a difference there is, despite all of that. 🙂  So forgive me all the selfies. 😀

Well, thank you to the people who care enough to keep up with me here.  This is really for my friends and family to update them on my progress.  I’m still hovering over my 2nd goal.  Haven’t hit it yet.  My body is being cruel. 🙂  I’ve been like 1 to 2 lbs away for months now!!!!  SO close I can taste it!

I’m signed up for several more 5K’s in the coming months, so if you want to try one out, you can come with us!  Just let me know – the more the merrier.