I’m Still Here
It’s has been so long since I’ve written here. Longer than I would have liked. So let me catch you up.
I mentioned in my last post that I would continue working out as much as my knees could handle. Unfortunately, as soon as I published that entry an old enemy sneaked up on me and caused my workouts to halt. I suffer from the residual injuries of having been an athlete in my younger years. I played various sports including, basketball, volleyball, and softball, all of which are very hard on the knees. In my junior year of high school I suffered Patellar dislocation in which my kneecap was pushed to the side. For years it would pop in and out of position and caused me to give up on my dream of making it to the [W]NBA. I also shattered my other kneecap about a year later and had to have fragments removed. Needless to say, the added weight has not helped my knees one bit. And so, after a pretty decent workout in May, I hurt my knee so badly that even sitting was painful. No surgery needed, but was required to stop with the cardio/aerobic exercises until my knees were no longer swollen.
It was awful. I had focused on maintaining this routine that would help me shed the weight and now I was no longer able to do it. I tried to stay positive, but being prone to depression and self-destructive behaviors like binging and then not eating at all, I relapsed gaining back 6 pounds. now I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, but losing the 22.4 pounds was such an accomplishment for me that gaining 6 back seemed like such a big defeat.
This past month was an exercise in personal combat. I have been fighting the voice that tells me to pack it in and give up. The voice that urges me to reward myself for simple things like not eating all of the Ben & Jerry’s in one sitting by eating the rest of it. And while at times it seemed tough, I have to admit that since June 20thm I am doing alright.
I have been snacking on healthier food. I have been eating a large salad with that slice of pizza when we order it. I have beaten back my binge-buddies and refused to give into the same routine that has gotten me here. I am continuing to take my thyroid meds and ensuring that I awake the same time every morning so that I can find other ways of being active. I have been doing strength training when I can and have been researching how to live a cleaner life.
I also got a new job. I am a social media manager for a major restaurant chain. And the funny thing is that doing this has made me hate eating food that is not homemade. It’s not that their food is that bad but talking about it all day is definitely a turn off. I have also been ridiculously busy now between the job and ensuring that my family is more active. I have cut back on blogging and on tweeting so that I could stop talking about what I want to do and actually do it. This means I am no longer an active member of Mamavation (and no it’s not because I did not win). It is because sitting on the computer or on my phone required me to take time away from doing the things that I need to do to keep myself on the right path. I will be better at supporting the sisters because I know how much it works, but I cannot commit to writing post every week until I can get back on my schedule.
Today I was given the OK to start exercising again and I did so with a vengeance. I used EA Sports Active for Wii an customized a boxing program that ran for 54:13 seconds. I burned approximately 1026.4 calories. I was sweaty and smelly and feeling better than I had in a while. I can;t wait until my next boxing workout on Sunday. I am going to do some strength training tomorrow to give my knees a rest.
I am still here and focused. and determined to lose the weight.
What Not to Say, Con’t
So the comments from co-workers who have noticed my weightloss have continued…
It is a little annoying, but for comedic fodder, I’ll post some here:
- You are too skinny. Stop losing; I’m jealous.
–Stop being ridiculous.
- Are you supposed to be eating that?
– Did you ever make comments on what I ate before? You’re not welcome to make them now.
- Wow. You look great. You seem a lot more active and happy.
– Yeah, because I was a bump on a log before and all I did was eat.
- Hey. how ya feelin today? Oh, me? A little tired. You shouldn’t be tired because you’re skinny. I bet you were a lot more tired when you were fatter.
–Yeah because all fat people are lazy and tired all the time.
- Don’t eat that. You’re gonna get fat.
–I whip out my before pic nad I say, oh you mean like this? Shut him up real quick
To which I wish I could say to all of ya’ll, family included…kiss my ass, but I love you, so I’ll just tell you how I feel and shut you up.
I am down 105 lbs so far. Delish!
Mamavation Monday: Me. Only Healthier. With a Recipe
Weight Update: 374.6
Total weight lost: 22.4 pounds
*I am pictureless (sorry). I took a picture and then noticed that my toes were just too jacked up to be posted on the Internet. I need a pedicure badly! I was not expecting to have lost anything because my eating habits were not as great as they have been. In addition, I am retaining water and feel extremely bloated. This happens a lot to me when the weather is humid and I have to rely on asthma meds more. I am going to weight myself again on Saturday to see if there is a change. I will take a picture then.
I wrote before about this journey being about more than weight loss. While I need to lose weight, I also want my lifestyle to be healthier. I want to focus on creating healthy habits and making healthy choices. The bottom line is that this is for my family. So, I have been spending so much time out of the house getting active and in the Kitchen cooking more. And when I say that I have been cooking, I have really been cooking. Below is one of my new favorite recipes.
But before you get to that, I need to say that I have have been seriously kicking ass! I weigh in tomorrow (Tuesday) so I will add the update there, but I FEEL so much better than I have in a long time. I am LIVING and that is all the proof that I need that I am doing this!
My goals are to continue working out 45–60 minutes a day depending on what my knees can handle; to step up the water intake because I have not been getting enough; and finally, I need to be better at journaling my food intake. I have to make sure I see exactly what I am eating so I can’t lie to myself.
And now for the soup.
Kristina’s Veggie Bean Soup
I have become some what of a soup addict as I travel on my journey to lose weight. And while the weather is getting warmer, I am still loving a bowl (or 2 cups of soup) after a long day. Using fresh vegetables and avoiding canned or pre-made broth makes homemade soup a filling and comforting meal. Here is my “Kristina’s Veggie Bean Soup” recipe. Let me say that Swiss Chard is AMAZING! This recipe was originally posted on Mom on the Rise and can also be found on SparkPeople.
Ingredients
- Carrots, raw, 3 medium (chopped)
- Mushrooms, 8 fresh (chopped)
- Onions, raw, 2 medium (chopped)
- Garlic, 4 clove (chopped)
- Celery, raw, 1 stalk, large (chopped)
- Red Ripe Tomatoes, 2 medium (chopped)
- Swiss Chard, 3 cup, chopped (chop stems and tear leaves; keep separate)
- Leeks, 5 leek (chopped)
- Asparagus, fresh, 3 spear, medium (chopped)
- Potato, raw, 3 large (chopped)
- Beans, great northern, 1.5 cup (dry and presoaked)
- Olive Oil, Extra Virgin, 2 tbs
- Water, tap, 8 cup (64 oz)
- Sage, ground, .5 tbsp
- Thyme, ground, .5 tbsp
- Cinnamon, ground, .5 tsp
- Bay Leaf, 1 tbsp, crumbled
- Adobo Goya, 0.25 tsp
- Pepper, black, .5 tbsp
Directions
- Serving size is 2 cups. Should make 10 servings.
- Sauté onion, garlic, carrots, leeks, celery. mushrooms, tomatoes, and asparagus in olive oil using a large stock pot or dutch oven.
- Add all remaining veggies except for the potatoes, Chard leaves. DO NOT ADD BEANS YET.
- Add enough water to just cover the veggies and add all spices/seasoning.
- Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1 hour.
- Add beans and potatoes and the remaining water.
- Stir and allow to simmer for 2 hours. Be sure to stir and check water level periodically . Add more water as needed. Soup should be brothy not thick.
- When soup has finished cooking add Swiss Chard leaves and cover fro 10 minutes. Serve in bowl.
Number of Servings: 10 | Serving Size 2 cups | Here is the nutrional info
What NOT to Say
There are a lot of people who don’t know WHAT to say when someone they know loses a lot of weight. I can tell you right now what NOT to say…
- You should keep your clothes in case you gain.
– Oh, so now you’re the expert on weight loss?
– You did it the easy way
– You look so much younger now
– Wow, I bet all the guys are hitting on you now
– Now don’t start cheating around
It’s hilarious when some women pull their men a little closer because I’ve lost a few lbs. I didn’t want him then and I darn sure don’t want him now.
I don’t mind the occasional, “Skinny Bitch” now as long as it’s said with love
Almost There
I apologize for my absence. It has been a crazy couple of weeks and I have not really had much time, energy, or desire to blog. Sometimes it feels like I spend too much time tweeting and blogging about what I want and need to do and very little time actually doing. So, I have been limiting computer time.
I have been spending as much time engaging in physical activity as possible be it the park, or walking in the neighborhood. And while I have not been exercising the way that I wanted to, I have been doing well with eating better (except for the week that I was fighting the female woes). Nonetheless, my choices have been paying off! Check it out:
DOWN 22 POUNDS SINCE MARCH 1
Weight Loss Surgery (WLS)
Weight loss surgery is such a hard decision to come to. I was the sort of person who was always active and moving around. I nmy head Iwas as bad as “that” girl.…but really Iwas …
My cholesterol, blood pressure and triglycerides at 34 years old were elevated, and I was on my way to an early demise.
In the interest of chronicling, let’s go back to June 2009.
Before June 2009, I researched WLS and even went to a meet and greet of women from a weight loss surgery support group back in 2003. I was too scared to go under the knife. I knew about the gastric bypass and that is what I wanted to pursue. I considered myself weak, and felt like I could lose weight on my own.
Fastforward 6 years later, after Weight Watchers 3 times, LA WeightLoss, Nutrisystem 2x.‘s, a medically supervised very low calorie diet and countless “restart Mondays”, I ballooned from 213 to 250, then lost 8 lbs since the beginning of 2009.
6.13.09
Several friends have had WLS, and bumping into 3 of them at one party got me to thinking about considering surgery again. I have been seeing my doctor for a community weight loss/health initiative, and I have been consistently exercising and trying to control what I eat, but I feel like the surgery will help restrict my caloric intake and help me get to my goals.
6.16.09
Sent an email to my primary care doc, letting her know that I was interested in WLS. She said she would do whatever I needed in order to get me approved. She felt like i was a good candidate.
6.18.09
I attended an information session at a local hospital. At the last minute, my babysitter fell through, and my husband was not able to attend. I really wished he could to hear all the information out there. One thing that struck me is that obese people have a 400% chance of getting diabetes. With an A1C myself of 5.9, I am well on my way to being a statistic. I want to reverse that. I have an appointment on 6.30 with the RN at the practice to have a pre-op meeting.
6.19.09
I contacted my insurance company about coverage for the procedure. (Aetna) said it was covered provided that I have a BMI over 40, need to lose over 100 lbs or have co-morbidities like high blood pressure or sleep apnea. I’d like to get approved for the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy because I am anemic already and I do not want to malabsorption that comes with the RnY. I also hear that there are so many people who are getting revisions to their surgery due to the band. I don’t wanna get on the “band-wagon” AT ALL.
I pray that God opens doors for me and that all is revealed in my pre-op testing and psych testing to help me to be as safe and successful as possible. I pray for a smooth process from beginning to end with the medical and personal support I need to keep it moving!
Onederland
In about 8 weeks, I went from 255 to 199. WOW! I thought there would be chariots coming from the sky and trumpets. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am elated, but I am still fat. Anyone else would be jumping for joy about this great milestone, but I really started looking at how far I have to go–at least that’s what my heart says.
My head says dammit, I have come a LONG way. I survived MAJOR surgery and all of my faculties are intact. I am alive and everything is kosher. It’s the battle of the mind that I have to conquer. I’d love to be able to get to 138, that drivers license number. Now that I am ONE-something, it seems so much more obtainable. That would mean only 61 more lbs. I lost 55 in 2 months. I will probably be at goal in a few more months. Head, talk to my heart. Tell her that we are gonna be ALLLLRIGHT!
I am not gonna mess this up. I am not gonna fail. So many times I have had these numbers in my head with rewards all along the way, and never really got “there”. I am almost there.
Learning to Believe that I can do this
Last week was the most active I have been in MONTHS. Maybe even years. We started Sunday and did not stop again until Wednesday. The halt in activity was because I have a little fluid around my knee and have to take it easy. So, I have been focusing on my eating habits. I have been meeting my caloric-intake each day although sometimes I barely reach it. I am still learning that I can eat, just differently. I tweeted about how hard it was for me to keep my sodium intake in an acceptable range. It is hard (no canned tomatoes, ever!) but again I am learning. I did have a day for slipping up. I ate entirely way too much corn-bread on Saturday and not much of anything else. BUT, I was OK with brushing it off and moving forward instead of moping around and eating the sadness away. I am learning to believe that I can do this.
Now for the Weigh In
I’m down another 4 POUNDS. That’s a total of 17 pounds. I am 14 pounds away from my first goal.
My Goals for the week:
- Take it easy so that my knee gets better. I have a tendency to push it too far.
- Continue to log what I eat on Spark People.
- Increase water intake by 8oz this week.
It’s Been a Long Time Coming
….but change HAD to come.
I went from 249 at the beginning of 2009 to 255 as an all time high in November.
I started researching weight loss surgery about 5 years ago, and I decided that this was my year to do it. I attended an info seminar in June, and then spent the summer going back and forth to the doc getting all the preliminary tests. I had the duodenal switch done November 30, 2009. To date, I have lost 50 lbs.
Medical Benefits:
My blood pressure and cholesterol have gone down considerably.
I do not snore anymore at all, and I suspect that when I have another sleep study that I will be free and clear of sleep apnea.
Physical Benefits
I can use a regular bath towel and not a bath sheet
I can cross my legs
I can run on the treadmill for a few minutes
I registered to run a 5K in a few months
I went from a 20/22 top and 18/20 bottom, to a 14/16 top, 14 bottom
I am clearing my closet of all my larger clothes and boxing them up to give away
My cycle has regulated itself
Emotional Benefits
I look younger
I have TONS more energy
I look at food differently–as fuel and not as a comfort
I am motivating others around me to eat better and work out more
My portion control is affecting my family in a positive way
By summer, I will probably be at my goal, but I have a lifetime to re-learn how to eat and take every moment to savor this precious life I have. The comments are coming out of the woodwork from men. I think it’s hilarious, but when I look back at old pictures, I was a puffed up version of myself. I always saw beauty when I looked in the mirror, but now, it’s so much more clear to me. I guess that confidence is passing on to others.
An Introduction to Jessica
My name is Jessica and I am over weight.
Okay so that was shall I say a little AA’ish but that is how I am tackling my journey to lose weight. Why you might ask? Well I believe my addiction to food and non activity is what has gotten me and kept me here. So I figure if I take an addicts approach to losing weight I can beat this thing. So the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem and realizing the negative effects of that problem. I love food especially the bad for you kind of food. I have also been addicted to soda for, well since I was a teen. The negative effects of all of this are the fact that I weigh 214 and am out of shape.
So I am 26 years old and married to the love of my life for just under two years. I have a son who is four and one that is nine months. Those three men are my inspiration and motivation for gaining a handle on my life. I want to be healthy for them and lead by example the kind of life I want them to lead. I miss having the energy to take my boys to the park or do active things with them. I keep thinking about the pictures over the years and I don’t want to be the ‘fat’ mom.
So I was asked by Kristina to write and share my journey with you and I hope to make her proud. You can read my progress on my blog: It’s All About the Saving’s. Until next time Exert, Hydrate, Repeat!




