Update! 11/30/18

So I know I just wrote on Thanksgiving but I have an exciting announcement! I am 97 pounds down. That means I am 3 pounds away from my first 100 pounds! I stepped on the scale not expecting to see that much more weight gone and BAM just like that 97 pounds, I found a picture of myself from my cousins wedding in August of 2017 and didn't realize how much difference you can see! A little over a year apart and you can see it in my face and stomach area! I about cried when I saw these 2 pictures in comparison. 1. Because I let myself get so big and so unhealthy. 2. Because I am actually losing weight, becoming healthy and seeing the difference as I go along!

Every time I think I am not moving along as quickly as I should be I see a before and after picture and realize I am going at the pace my body wants me to and I am losing weight and inches! I feel more confident everyday, my energy level has gone up tremendously, I sleep better at night, clothes are fitting differently and in a good way, I have more options on what to wear and I just feel healthier.

Now I still have a ways to go until I hit my goal weight, but I would say these first 97 pounds down feel AMAZING! I am never going back to that old Katie. The one thing they say with the surgery is it isn't a permanent fix, you can re-stretch your stomach, go back to eating the old ways, not stay on top of doing your exercises and you can ruin all the hard work you put into it. Well I will tell you this I am going to give it 110% and everything I have not to ruin this life changing opportunity!

Thanksgiving Time! 11/22/18

What a Bariatric patients plate looks like! 

Thanksgiving is here and I can't believe it! I told my mom I would make Thanksgiving dinner this year so she can enjoy time with Elijah my nephew (obviously her Grandson). She said that was awesome! As I am cooking dinner I don't feel the urge to nibble and munch on the food I am making so that is pretty awesome! I am having a great time, however a little nervous to actually sit down with the family and try to eat this amazing food. I can't have bread, pasta, rice, tortilla's or anything like that because when it hits your stomach it expands, 1. causing you to fill up faster, 2. doing it to often can cause stomach stretching, and 3. Major discomfort. Well lets see stuffing is a bread, potatoes are high carbs, mac and cheese is a pasta... So what did I do? I had a tiny spoonful of each item and maybe only ate 1-2 bites of each item!

My 17 month old Nephew putting away
more then myself lol! 

Let's put it this way my 17 month old nephew ate more then I did! That says something about what the surgery can do for your stomach!  Normally I would stuff myself but obviously wasn't able to. I did stop when my your full symptoms began which would be runny nose and hiccups. lol I was proud of myself for not taking a dinner roll, eating my turkey and mashed potatoes before taking 1 bite of mac and cheese and 1 bite of stuffing. I'd say I did pretty good! Dessert was homemade mini apple pies, pumpkin pies and banana cream pies. I had 1 pumpkin and I was good to go! And I was proud of myself for not drinking during the meal! With this surgery they say you can drink anything 30 min before eating, during eating and 30 minutes after eating because fluids will fill you up and you won't be able to eat anything! I had the hardest time with that in the beginning and I learned my lesson and never did it again!

Black Friday Shopping!

Let's just say later that night I worked off the calories I ate at dinner while I black Friday shopped! :D It was nice being able to order a size smaller in my thanksgiving shirt! Another goal hit, dropping a shirt size as I go along!
Shirt says My Favorite Turkeys call me Auntie!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Now onto another hard Holiday with tons of baked goodies!

November Already 11/9/18

Man is time flying. This month will be harder then the others. My birthday (which means birthday cake), Thanksgiving and all that fun stuff!!! I am nervous about thanksgiving but know I have the support and can do it!

November 6th. My Birthday: Okay so today has been a great day, went and got my eyebrows done as a birthday treat to myself and my mom bought a small birthday cake. I was good and had one SMALL slice. It filled that sweet tooth and I was surprised I wasn't wanting more after that! Baby steps people!

November 7th. Starting a new job: I got a new job working at McDonald's with my friend Samantha! I am super nervous because I have been working from home this past year and haven't had to be on my feet for long periods. Luckily they are willing to work with me to ease me back into the full blown on my feet thing. Today was my first day and I did 6 hours, normally I would be sore, needing to sit, in lots of pain and sweaty... However none of that happened today and I could have gone for another few more hours! Shhh don't tell Sam that ;) Felt great to be back on my feet working and not in pain!

Day 2 of work and I am ready to get going, day 2 went great and so did day 3! The first week is complete and I feel amazing. However my legs and feet are sore but that's to expect! But when I say sore it's not a sore that's going to keep me from getting up this weekend and doing stuff around the house! I am taking all Halloween down and putting up the fall/Thanksgiving like decorations.
So far I am liking the Job and being out and about doing things. I will check back in a few days!

3 month check up! 10/29/18

It's the morning of my 3 month check up and I am nervous. I feel like I am progressing really good but I see others on my support pages on FB progressing faster. So when I go in I will talk to my nutritionist about it. So 75 pounds ago I had to get rides to and from the doctor because I couldn't walk much and to get to and from the U of MN where this doctor is I have to take a bus, light rail and walk 7 blocks. It's so embarrassing but it happened. Well today I said I am doing better and going to do the walking. I put my headphones in and walked to the bus, then to the light rail and the 7 blocks to the doctors office! OMG I felt amazing, I wasn't sore, sweaty or anything that had happened in the past. I even did it all to go home as well! I would say that's a positive to this whole journey!

Okay so my doctors appointment. I am down 85 pounds! Yay me! My labs are all normal except my protein level which was to be expected since I am not getting my protein in. They said I am losing weight at a great pace and am doing everything right. Now the stomach cramping problem, the doctor didn't seem concerned and said some people recover at different paces and maybe my stomach needs a little extra time. Not to force myself to eat so much solid foods and it's okay to add a liquid/pureed food in there here and there. I said good to know. My nutritionist wants me to write down in a food diary everything that's making my stomach cramp and causing me to vomit and maybe that will help find those triggers. She said to continue to try getting my protein in as good as I can. I am going to buy the protein shakes, water flavoring, soup mixes and a couple of other things from here and hopefully those will help! The protein shake mix is flavorless so I can put it on oatmeal, or anything else I can tolerate. My doctor said if it continues or gets worse to come in. So fingers crossed it gets better rather then worse.

Side note! Halloween is in 2 days and my mom brought out the Halloween candy!!!
I want some so bad, one piece isn't going to hurt correct??? Okay so I caved and had a kit kat! Bad Katie BAD BAD KATIE!!! Let's just say I was miserable and didn't think to do it again. See having the surgery isn't the fix to everything, I still have those cravings and still have to work just as hard as those who lost weight naturally to just say no!
Happy Halloween everyone! Until next time :)

It has been 3 months! 10/24/18

JEANS!!!!

It's 10/24/18 and as I write this I am 3 months post op and couldn't feel better. I am officially 75 pounds down and I feel AMAZING! 

I just went shopping for some new underwear. I know that's weird but to me it's nice to see the sizes of my clothing go down! I am currently down 3 pant sizes, 2 shirt sizes and a bra size lol. You can start to see a difference in my face and stomach! I can't see much in my thighs which can be discouraging but I know I have lost inches there and I will lose weight in different areas at different times. My arms are getting a little excess skin and I am hating it, I am doing all I can workout wise to keep them from getting extreme so fingers crossed it helps. I pulled out all my old jeans the other day and they all fit super comfortably. My mom said they are kind of big in the leg area which was a great feeling. If you know me I love my leggings and that's all I would wear so to be able to put jeans on and feel comfortable is a big deal!

75 Pounds down and NOT going back!

I have to go to my doctor today to get my 3 month labs done and will get the results when I go in for my 3 month follow up. I have been taking my vitamins everyday and trying my hardest to watch my levels on everything. I have had problems getting the amount of protein I need in because I still have some stomach cramping after I eat and when I eat high protein foods I get nauseous and I vomit. It's the worst feeling, I will be chatting with my nutritionist and doctor when I go in for my 3 months follow up on the 29th. I hope it isn't something I have done wrong, this makes me regret the surgery. But then I look in the mirror and see a Katie that is losing weight, gaining energy, less aches and pains and can actually get on the floor and play with her nephew more so I say that's a win!

  That's all for today! I will write with my lab results on the 29th!

I got a gym membership today!!!! 10/8/18

Today I decided to take the leap and get a gym membership!!!

I went to the YMCA and got myself a membership! Being able to go to the gym and actually work out will be amazing! I am starting to get some excess skin and I don't want to have skin removal surgery so I am going to try my hardest to tighten my skin the natural way of staying hydrated and gaining muscle to tighten my skin!

Things are looking up!



Day 1 of the gym! Ok I am sore I will say that! I did 30 minutes on the treadmill, 10 on the elliptical and 30 minutes of weight training. My legs and arms are going to be rubber and sore! The next day I woke up and decided to go again! That never happens. Day 2 was great, worked on my legs on the weight machine and felt great, but some good tunes on to keep me moving. Day 3 I went again! And then again day 4! That's 4 days in a row, that NEVER happens! It was feeling great to get up and go to the gym!

 The weekend came around and I wasn't letting that stop me from going. Friday night came up, I was done with work for the day and decided to keep going. So I went to the gym. Except this time I went swimming. I love the water and could swim for hours! I put my suit on and went into the lap pool! Before I knew it I had been swimming for an hour and it felt amazing! I wasn't sore either. The feeling of sticking to this gym thing this past week has been amazing! I think because the staff is nice and everyone working out there are kind and not staring at me like a fat lady who's trying to workout helps a lot. I bought myself workout clothes last time I was going to work on losing weight and I stuck to that for a week! The clothes go put into the bottom drawer of my dresser and never looked at them again. So I have all these new workout clothes and I am putting them to good use! Who says you can't go to the gym in style?

I am very proud of myself because I made it to the gym 13 times this month and that has never happened before! It feels great to be motivated and to do something for myself!

2 Months out! 09/24/18

Today is September 24th and I am officially 2 months out! I had my 1 month check up last month and things where going great! However every time I ate something that wasn't oatmeal I threw up :( Couldn't hold anything down! I was miserable! So my nutritionist suggested I move back to more pureed foods over soft foods because maybe my stomach hasn't healed fully. The doctor said everyone's stomachs are different and heal at different paces, mine might just be taking longer. Go figure mine is being stubborn!  I was excited to move onto more solid foods but don't want to injure the stomach or push my body to much! So until I get the all clear I am staying on soft foods. Luckily I can have like mashed potatoes, and things like that.

I have found I don't like eggs as much as I used to which stinks because that is a good source of protein which I am having a hard time getting the amount I need in! But I do however love almonds now which I never did before. The doctor and nutritionist did say my taste buds may change but not this big of a change! Oh well maybe it's a sign for me to try more foods.


Time has been flying by and I can now walk 1-2 miles without having to take breaks, without breaking a sweat and all and all just longer. 2 months ago I could barely do the stairs or walk a couple blocks without being out of breath, needing to take a break or be all sweaty! So I can tell the weight I have lost has helped my mobility and what not. Another thing I can see a difference in is when I am walking I don't have so many aches and pains. My lower back isn't hurting as much and my legs aren't on fire! I think I may get a gym membership soon! :O What??? Me get a gym membership??? Did I just say that??? Wow I must be a newer Katie!

Until next time! :D
                                                                                                                                                               

As time goes by, I fit more and more outfits! 09/23/18

It's been a while since I wrote on here! I have been super busy with getting used to things and making sure I am sticking to my plan! It has been tough but so worth it! Each day is different and new and I have seen so many changes! The other day I went into my closet where I have all my clothes that didn't fit or don't fit. It was like Christmas morning! I have so many new and amazing things to wear. Before surgery and losing weight I only stuck to leggings and t-shirts. Shirts I haven't been able to wear in forever or never worn are starting to fit me! I can see a difference in my face! It's slimming down and the small parts of acne have gone down! Things are looking great. I will be moving to solid foods soon so that will be exciting!

These are pictures of my progress over the last few weeks! The bottom one is from my nieces baptism! I loved being able to wear a dress I had never worn because I never fit it! I straightened my hair for the first time in forever and got all dolled up! I was feeling great!

I still have some work to do on my thighs because those are making me miserable but I know it's a process and every inch of my body will lose weight and inches at their own rate, just wish it would be the same time! Can you believe I have more and more things to wear and it takes me forever to pick out an outfit? Being a girl is fun when you have clothes to pick from!

3 Weeks post op! 08/14/18

Not the best picture of my face lol. But you can
see in my side profile that I have lost a few
inches! 

I had surgery 3 weeks ago today! I feel great! I was able to move onto the next phase in the diet. Let me explain this a little for those who don't know.

Here is how that works! 

Day 2- Day 7 clear liquids.

Day 7- Day 21 pureed.

Day 21- Day 60 soft foods.

Once I hit 2 month and get the okay I could move to solid normalish foods still in small portions.

My stomach can't handle more then 1/2-3/4 cup of food each meal. My nutritionist only wants me to eat 3 meals a day and try to limit myself 0-1 snacks a day! Drink lots of water they say! High protein, low carbs and only like 10g of sugar a day! The hardest part is getting my protein, I have to have 60g of protein and it's super hard when you can only eat certain things and not much of it! I can't have more then 40g of carbs and 10g of sugar! I can only drink water, watered down apple juice, grape juice or cranberry juice. I can only have a tiny 1/4 of juice a day, but if I don't have it at all that's ideal!  

Plate 1 before starting journey!
Plate 2 during the first 6 months before surgery!
Plate 3 what I can eat now after surgery! 

I went and tried on some clothing I have and it's fitting much looser and better. Making me feel really great! I have had days where I regret the surgery but seeing pictures like the one above and seeing my energy level go up makes me remember why I had this surgery! The only reason I say I regret it was because I couldn't eat what I wanted or drink what I wanted.

Remember this isn't a fix for everything! I have to retrain my brain to the new diet and I also have to train my eyes as well! The only thing this surgery does for myself is help me realize I am full and can no longer eat everything on my plate! It isn't a fix to my food addiction rather then a tool to help my brain and body know you are full! My stomach was so large I didn't ever feel full or satisfied, I always went from hungry to miserable! The first time I felt full I didn't know what was going on! I was terrified I did something wrong. As time went on I realized the signs my body was telling me to indicate I was full. When I have eaten enough I get the hick ups and a runny nose. Each person is different but that's mine.

I have seen my energy level increase and I can walk a little more then before surgery! My depression has gone down a little bit and I have been feeling great! Like I said clothes are fitting different.

2 months out! Aug 27th! 

Well that's all, chat soon!

Week 1 Recap! 7/31/18

So I have officially been post op for 1 week and 2 days today! This week has been so different let me tell you! So many emotions going on, good, bad and everything.

Let's start out with a few things.

1. Pain was very little which was nice, I only had to take 1 pain pill the entire week! 

9 days post op! Down 53 Pounds since
start of journey, 13 pounds since
Surgery!!! 

2. I went to my 1 week check up today! Incisions are looking great and I can move onto the next stage of food which is full liquids! There's more to this story so I will get there soon! 

3. If I worked from home I could go back to work lol. Thank goodness for working from home and on a computer! 

4. Teddy has been very comforting and knows I have been through something big. He's been full of snuggles, full of love and knows not to jump on my stomach and that I can't really bend to pick him up! I just love this dog! 

So here's a recap of the week!

Day 7 (1 week after surgery) I had to go to the ER because one of my incisions opened and I had a huge itchy rash around it. Also was very dizzy and sick. Mom and Lisa Jackson took me to the ER at the U of MN, best part was stepping on the scale and seeing I was down 11 pounds since surgery!!! It was found that I had a delayed reaction to the tape/bandaged used to cover the incision so was given Benadryl to help that. Luckily the incision that opened was the smallest one so it was ok and didn't need to be re-closed and it would re-close on it's own time just to keep it clean! Lastly the dizziness was from being dehydrated so they gave me an IV. The benadryl knocked me out and I fell asleep for the most part. Mom and Lisa where laughing at me the whole time they said.

I was getting really hangry on day 5 because 3 days before surgery I was only aloud clear liquids, then was told by the discharge resident that I had to do only clear liquids until my 1 week check up! You don't know how hard this is! When you have an addiction to food like I did you want to eat, and it didn't help that my sister and her family where in town and having one of my FAVORITE meals! I was getting tired of jello, soup broth, and water! So I was looking through my paperwork from the nutritionist and it said I could start full liquids (next step up in recovery diet) so I was confused. I sent my nutritionist an email through the MyChart and she wrote back and said I could have started the full liquid on day 3!!!!! I was furious, I had been doubting this whole thing and miserable and yelling at my mom because I was hungry and tired of the same thing everyday! 

I went to the store and got some full liquid items which included sugar free pudding, soups i.e cream of chicken, tomato things like that and milk! It was heaven! I never thought I would be in awww at how amazing cream of chicken tasted! This kind of put me a week behind schedule with moving up in the food line. 

It has been a tough week but will be worth it! Until next time! 

Post op day 1! 7/25/18

Hey Everyone,

I am writing this the morning after my surgery! I am in a little pain but it is from the gas that they use to inflate your stomach with. I slept ok, on and off for the most part. I was so thirsty but so afraid to drink anything so I just ignored those thoughts and went back to sleep. I couldn't lay flat because it hurt to much and I just couldn't get comfortable so I just laid sitting up in bed. I don't remember much from yesterday except maybe a few things.

The nurse evening nurse did have to threaten me to drink something and use the bathroom otherwise she would have to hook me up to a catheter. I couldn't really use the bathroom because it hurt to use my abdominal muscles to push and my mind was playing games with me. I know I wasn't going to rip the new seam in my stomach or do any damage but in the back of my head the fear of me pushing to use the bathroom would cause me to tear the staples. Finally late that night I went and they said ok no catheter. Thank God!

This morning went fine, woke up called my mom, got blood work, staples taken out and discharged and went home. The pillow my mom bought me worked so amazing for the car ride home because every little bump or stop would cause a tiny bit of pain. So holding the pillow close to my stomach has helped tremendously. Pain level is maybe a 2! That's pretty amazing!

That's all for today! Will write more later this week!