Tag Archives: things of win and awesome

Post-Op Week 79 Progress Report: It’s Not All Sunshine and Roses, Y’all

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First week back at it and not too shabby, considering that I am now 18 months post-op.  If I can lose this amount or more each week, I will see my goal weight by Christmas.  I’m definitely learning patience right now!

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Post-Op Week 66 Progress Report: Achievement Unlocked–Misses Size Pants

image This week saw me lose most of the gain I had last week.  How, I don’t know.   This was a good week for the most part, though.
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Post-Op Week 64 Progress Report: New Workouts

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Not surprised by the slight gain this week–it is nearly that time of the month again, and this is par for the course for me and my body.

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Post-Op Week 63 Progress Report: Legs

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This week’s progress is surprising.  I didn’t expect to lose this much!  Guess I am finally off the plateau I was on for so long.  Perhaps it is all the stairs I now take, or the fact that I’ve changed my supplementation a bit (I now take a potassium tablet and have increased my magnesium intake), or the fact that I walk so much more each day, and that when I walk, I walk very fast.

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So Much More Than a Winter Coat

This happened today:

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Last week, I’d put out a call to my peeps online asking where to buy a winter coat.  I knew that I would need one, as the two winter coats I currently have in my possession are 4 and 6 sizes too big for me, respectively.  My requirements for a winter coat were that it had to have a hood, a zip out liner, be long enough to cover my butt, and be water repellent if possible (this was not an absolute necessity).

So today we had gone to the mall so that I could drop off my recyclables at Kiehl’s (and pick up some more body butter; theirs is awesome).  At this particular mall, it is easiest to go through Nordstrom to get to the Kiehl’s, so we did.  I stopped to browse in the women’s section because I just wanted to look around.  I picked out a couple of long-sleeved blouses to try on, which fit and looked great so I decided to get them since it was triple points day (!!!!).  Then I saw The Coat.

I was not expecting to buy a coat today.  I wasn’t expecting this one to fit.  It was a misses size large, and I’ve been wearing extra large in my shirts and sweaters because that is what fits.  I looked through all the coats on the rack and no extra large was to be found, so I was a bit disappointed.  I kept looking at the coat thinking the shoulders would not be wide enough for me.

My husband, ever helpful and optimistic, said, “Try it on.”

I said, “I don’t think the shoulders will fit.”

He nudged gently and said, “Just try it.”

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Post-Op Week 62 Progress Report: Swimming Without Floaties

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Completely surprised by this week’s progress.  I don’t know what could have been the cause, because there were so many things I was changing at once (bad scientist, changing more than one variable at a time!).  Whatever the reason, I hope this means I’m finally off the plateau I seem to have been on for the past 3 months.

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Achievement Unlocked: Sitting in an Airplane Seat

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Achievement unlocked:  fitting into an airplane seat and not needing a seatbelt extender. 

This is a big deal.

The last time I flew on a plane (American Airlines from SEA to DFW, BTW), I had to buy an extra seat, use a seatbelt extender, AND the seatbelt extender was just barely long enough to buckle me in.  It made for a very, very uncomfortable flight in more ways than one.  It was pretty much the worst travel experience of my whole life, which I’ll write about another time.

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An Early #transformationtuesday: First Day of School Edition

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Today was the first day of school around these parts.  So naturally I dressed up–I find that I do that a hell of a lot more these days, but even more so for work than I ever did before.

The photo above is the difference a year makes.  On the left is my first day of school outfit from last year.  On the right is what I wore today, five sizes smaller.

I’m hopeful that as I begin this second year of life with my sleeve that each meal and each workout gets me closer to my goal.

It also dawned on me that my students will never know the me from the left photo.  They won’t see the gradual change in my appearance that my last year’s bunch got to see.  I’m hoping that with the addition of new workouts, they see a refinement of what I’ve gotten myself down to.

This is my New Year, and it’s on, bitches.  I will get to my goal.

One Year Follow Ups

I had a one-year follow up with my primary care doc on Tuesday, which turned out to be fabulous.  My labs came back beautifully:

cholesterolratiosMy fasting blood glucose was 81 and my a1c?  Completely normal.  Liver enzymes were back down to normal levels after having been high the first two months of this year.  My iron levels are great, and all my electrolytes are normal.  Blood pressure is fantastic and better yet–my doctor used a REGULAR SIZE CUFF to take it!  No extra large cuff this time!  She was thrilled that my health was vastly improved, and we started talking about mammograms and all that jazz…yep, it’s time for me to start doing those on the regular as now I am a lady of a certain age.  Since my gyno isn’t practicing any more, I got a recommendation for a new one (who ONLY does gynecology, no obstetrics–thank goodness) who I will be calling to see in the fall once school starts.  I have to figure out if she is on our new insurance that goes into effect September 1.  UGH INSURANCE.

That was the first doctor’s appointment of the week.  Today’s appointment was the bigger deal since it was with my surgeon, who I had not seen since last August when my husband had surgery with him.

I went in prepared.  Like any other ‘A’ student, I had a list of questions to ask.

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What Liberation Looks Like To Me Today

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I’d made a to-do list for today, and at the top of it was giving my new running shoes a go at the gym.  That was moderately successful.  I tweaked my left knee and aggravated a decades-old knee injury, so there won’t be any running for me in the foreseeable future.

Second on that list was to call each of the credit card companies that I had accounts with for stores that sold plus-sized clothing so that I could close the accounts.  I sat and called each one, methodically, systematically, and with great cheer closed each account.

As I closed each one, I felt a weight being lifted from my shoulders.  It also felt a bit like slash-and-burn clear-cutting of a field.  And I suppose it sort of is, in a way:  I made way both literally and metaphorically for new clothing choices by shedding the keys to the stores that for so long were my only choice for clothing.

And now that I can wear an XL in misses clothing, the possibilities for me to look pretty freakin’ awesome are wide open.