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Hey all! I know it has been a while since I blogged. I have been super busy with work and rehearsals, not only for my show but Nick's. We were both in production at the same time. NEVER again! Anyway, things have gone really well, I am officially down 128 pounds and have 25 pounds to go to hit my goal!! I really hope to hit it before the year is up! Although I am finding that the last leg is proving the hardest! Not hard in the aspect of pain or troubles, just the last bit is coming off slowly and I am so ready to be at that goal!

I feel better and look better than I have in years, and although I was really having a hard time turning 40 this past October, I think the 40's may prove to be the best years of my life, cause I have a new lease on life. This is the year I will go after all my goals and dreams!

Wishing you all a healthy, happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Today is my 6 month mark and I am down 99 pounds! I was hoping to hit the 100 pound mark, but I'm thrilled with the weight loss no matter what! Yesterday was an adventure as I shopped for a new bra. The lady at Macy's was awesome in helping me. I had to try on over 30 bras till I found that perfect fit! I went from a 46DD to a 38 DD!! The new bras makes me look even skinnier, cause my boobs aren't dragging on the ground LOL! I hope to hit 100 pounds this week! Just wanted to update everyone on my progress thus far! Thanks to everyone for their encouragement and support! It means the world to me!

Well I haven't posted anything in a while. Mostly cause I've been super duper busy but also cause things seem to be slowing down again. As of my morning weigh in I have lost a whopping 90 pounds! I am pretty stoked but am looking foward to that 100 pound milestone! That will be AWESOME! I spent the past 3 days in Wisconsin Dells in a bathing suit and I was not mortified by being in one! I actually was comfortable and confident! Now don't get me wrong i certainly don't have a swimsuit model body, or bikini body yet! But I did not feel like that grossest or fattest one there and that is an accomplishment! I also wasn't afraid to go down the slides nor did i worry about how small the seats on the roller coasters were! I used to have nightmares about sliding down the water slide and splashing all the water out of the pool at the end like in the movie "Norbert" with Eddie Murphy. Anyone seen it? If so you can understand the fear, but this weekend... NO FEAR!!! i had a great time with Nicholas and kept up with him! Things are good, my new life just gets better and better!

Well my followers,I know it's been a while since I blogged. Life has been pretty hectic, the new job is keeping me super busy and it just seems like every evening something is going on.

Here's my most recent update... I saw the surgeon on 5-25 for a post-op as of that appt. I had lost 72 pounds, 8 inches from my hips, 6 .5 inches from my waist and had dropped 7 points on the BMI scale. I moved out of the morbidly obese category which means I have added years to my life and am much healthier! I still am in the obese category but will hopefully move out of that soon as well!.

Last weekend I went clothes shopping with my sister and was pleasantly surprised when I was able to buy all my clothes from the misses section and NOT the PLUS size section! WOO HOO! I haven't been out of plus size clothing in over 10 years for sure!

As of this morning I am 76 pounds down! I feel the best i have in years!
Hard to believe all of this has happened in a little over 4 months!
More of my journey to come soon!

LIFE IS GOOD! I officially hit 55 lbs today and could not be more excited. It's been a whirlwind the last few weeks. I started my new job and I love it! I saw Bon Jovi last Thursday and felt like a schoolgirl all over again. I'm helping out with a play which opens Friday night, so that and work are keeping me running, but, I feel great! Last Saturday I walked somewhere between 6 and 8 miles, never got winded and felt fantastic. I cannot honestly tell you the last time I was able to do that! Life is good and it's only getting better!! I am finally starting to notice the difference and am happy with the way I am looking! I cannot wait to loose 50 more pounds! Haven't had any bouts of disagreeing food lately either! I'm enjoying trying new things!

Most recent photo of me!

WOW! Things are really going my way! I really am enjoying a whole new life! I am now down 44 pounds and I feel fantastic! I am now able to exercise (besides walking) so went to"Soul Grooves" tonight! I have to say it was sooooo much easier minus those 44 pounds! I got a new job on Monday. I will be a pre-K teacher for Kindercare and I am really looking forward to using my creative juices. Desk jobs are just not my thing! Plus I am going from 30 hours to 40 hours and increasing my pay by over $3 per hour! My last day at Mackin will be April 2nd and I start at Kindercare April 5th. I also decided to look into moving to Eagan, where I will be working and move Nick to a new school district, maybe some of his school issues will disappear! Everything is looking up and I feel better about my life than I have in a really long time! This surgery truly was the start of a brand new life (:

I hit 40 pounds today and was so elated! I felt like I could be like Valerie Bertenelli the spokesperson for Jenny Craig, she talks about loosing her 40 pounds is like 4 1o pound bags of potatoes! I can relate! I feel so much lighter and am excited to watch my transformation. Yesterday a guy I've had a crush in for years noticed the difference and it made me feel great! My clothes are starting to look like the "Saggy Baggy Elephant" may need to get some new duds soon!

This week has been interesting to say the least. I went back to work which was good for my brain, 4 weeks off from work made me a little stir crazy to say the least. My body was maybe not quite as ready as I thought however. My job is pretty physical, handling books all day, and some of them are quite heavy. Needless to say by the time I got home each night I was pretty spent. I have continued to slowly loose weight. I am now down 36 lbs and feeling pretty excited about that! A couple of setbacks this week though. I am supposed to be trying a new food every day, so Thursday night,I made 2 oz of chicken (which I have eaten before successfully) and I added some Honey Terayaki sauce. After 2 bites I knew things were not going well, I had a bad pain and felt horrible, well, it all came up!!! I was so freaked out about it that I skipped my Trivia night! UGH! That was my first experience with puking! Not something I'd like to repeat, however last night I was eating egg salad and again bad pain, threw up! Not sure what's going on... I am hoping there's not a leak in the pouch. Will see what happens today.
I have been walking for 30 -45 minutes, but walking on the treadmill is sooo boring to me! I will be ready to hit the 6 week mark so I can return to my water aerobic class and my dance classes! I need variety in my exercise routine or I will quit doing it! Looking forward to next week as I will be helping out with Expressions! new production. I need something to do in the evenings rather than sitting in front of the TV watching American Idol which in my opinion sucks this year!

Went back to work yesterday. I really thought it would be a piece of cake, not so much. My job is pretty physical and I am sore. 4 weeks off and a major surgery has made me weak! Glad to be back though! Mentally I was going stir crazy. The weight has not been dropping off as quickly now, in fact it's barely moved in the last several days. ): I am also having troubles with constipation. Don't know if that is normal. I take so many vitamins I'm wondering if that is affecting me. In the past I've never been able to take vitamins cause I get all bound up. I know you love hearing about that little tidbit of information, but hey I'm trying to keep it real, and document everything that happens on this journey. My clothes are looser and I have to keep pulling my pants up so that's a good thing!

So today I'm done 31.5 pounds, which is great but it seems to be coming off slower now. Don't get me wrong I feel FANTASTIC. 31 pounds is a huge accomplishment, but wouldn't 30 more be GREAT?! I know I need to be patient but I wish it would drop faster! I keep thinking, am I eating too much again, is that why it's not coming off as fast? Should I walk more? Patience is not a strong suit I admit! I don't know what is normal so I'm not sure if I should still be loosing 10 pounds a week. Ugh! Then I think... it's probably normal that it slows down once you start eating solid foods!Perhaps I'm just thinking too much and I should just go with the flow and relish in my accomplishments thus far!

I have hit 30 lbs down and am feeling great. Clothes are looser, and things are looking better! I am ready to get back to work and resume a normal life. I am eating soft foods, adding a new food each day. I really miss pizza, but no bread, rice, pasta, beans, foods with seeds or nuts for 3 months! (Sigh). I am so glad I did this!!!

28 lbs down as of morning weigh in. have my first post-op appt. with the surgeon this afternoon and am looking forward to his insight. Hope I'm doing well. i feel like I am. i get to start solid foods today as well. I have to cut them into toddler size bites, but at least it's solid. I am jonesing for a pizza though. Which I still cannot have, no baked goods, bread, rice or pasta for 3 months!

This is me today, can anyone tell a difference? Just curious?

27 lbs down as of weigh in this morning. I'm excited, but wish I could see results! I feel like I still look like the same fatty. I'm sure it will take 5 or 10 more pounds before I notice a significant difference but I just wish I could tell that I'd lost 27 pounds ya know? I had hoped to go back to work today but my dr. is making me take 4 weeks off. 2 down, 2 to go. I'm not one to sit around though so the boredom is getting me. I need to find some productive activities to occupy the next 2 weeks. Today I bagged up some clothes to take to a new consignment shop, so that was something., other than watching 90210 reruns! Should work on scrapbooking.

Day 10 post surgery and I am feeling good. Down 22 lbs. I start pureed foods today. Had creamy peanut butter for breakfast today. Yumm! It was nice to eat something with taste. I am worried that I'm not getting the protein I need. I am supposed to eat 50-60 grams of protein a day. But I still don't feel any hunger at all, and I am so afraid of vomiting that I know I'm not eating as much as I'm supposed to eat. I probably only eat about 20 ounces of food all day! I need to work harder on getting that protein in, cause I don't want to loose any hair, which is a side effect of not getting enough protein. I already have VERY thin hair due to my thyroid condition! I don't want to loose any more. So far the only thing that has made me want to eat was that my son Nicholas had a brownie and the smell, made me salivate and I was like "OHH I want that!" But then I thought, if I eat that I am going to puke, craving GONE! Pretty amazing since before the surgery I had no willpower when it came to sweets!

Woke up today feeling pretty peppy. This is a first. I have now lost 20 pounds! WOO HOO! So far it hasn't been too bad. I don't feel hungry at all. People had told me about the possibility of throwing up if you ate to fast or something you shouldn't eat yet. So far I have not done that! YEAH! The worst thing for me is that my mouth tastes like metal all the time and it is grossing me out. I think it's a small price to pay for a new healthier life though!

I guess I should start at the beginning to understand the whole journey. On May 25 2008 I was diagnosed with pseudo tumo cerbri. This is basically excess fluid on the brain that acts like a tumor causing severe headaches. I was told 2 types of people got it. Severely overweight women or women with high blood pressure, well I didn't have the high blood pressure so you know what category that put me in. I knew I needed to loose weight but this this hit the nail on the head. I was considered morbidly obese. No one wants to be called morbidly obese believe me. I had tried dieting for years, I could loose 20 pounds and then I 'd plateau and get frustrated and back up the scale I'd go. My nueropsychologist suggested the surgery and after doing lost of researching and soul searching i decided it was the right way to go. i met with my surgeon for the first time in October of 2009 and then had the surgery 2-8-10.

I embarked on my new journey in life. After years of struggling with my weight to no success, i decided to have the gastric bypass surgery. It took almost a year and a half to get through all the hoops required by the surgery staff and insurance but on Feb 8th i had the procedure done.

I arrived at 5:30 in the morning for a 7:30 AM surgery, did all the pre-op and then headed into surgery. I woke up in my room sore and groggy. Things were successful I know have a stomach pouch the size of my thumb and 7 inches gone eliminated from my intestines, which will aid in faster absorption and digestion. Today is the 1 week mark, I am slow moving and tired but doing well. I have lost 19 pounds in one week and look forward to watching the pounds melt away.