Plastic Surgery TIme?

If you are on the Facebook WLS page you know that I recently went to get my plastic consult this past week. If you are as far out as I am it is a very interesting process.

I went ahead and decided to do a consult who did an awesome job on a tummy tuck of someone I know. I couldn't have asked for a better consult. The doctor (Dr. Christopher Jones for my Indy friends) spent over an hour with me and my husband explaining the ups and downs to the procedures I was interested in. Overall, he made me feel not only excited but ready to take on this next adventure. 

I decided on a brachiolasty (arm lift) and a tummy tuck. I spent a lot of time talking to my doctor about a tummy tuck vs. a panniculectomy. I do not have much tummy skin to get rid of. I've been blessed in that area so I originally thought that the panniculectomy would be my best option. However, Dr. Jones really walked me through about what I wanted and it turns out the tummy tuck will be the best option for me. 

Then came the price. $12,000 for both surgeries. I knew it was going to be a lot. I don't know why I got my hopes up so high. My husband and I have been talking about going to Mexico this January and I started having dreams of what those photos might look like with no arm hang or belly hang. And I just got my hopes up. I don't have $12,000- I actually don't have anything close to that price. 

How do you deal with disappointment? I will tell you- my first instinct was to come home and eat. Eating is how I made myself forget about the disappointment before surgery. I would be able to eat so much, talk a nap, and then a week later when I didn't fit into clothes it made me forget about the original disappointment. But, that's not me anymore and I'm having a really hard time facing this disappointment. 

Where do we go from here? I'm looking into several financing options but let me tell you--- it's hard to give someone $12,000 for a medical loan. I'm running into walls right now hoping that some nice company will lend me the money. Until then? I've decided I'm going to work out this disappointment in the gym, in the kitchen when I am cooking foods that are good and healthy for my body, and keeping those Mexico pictures in the back of my mind when I think about going back to the way I use to handle disappointment. 

I will keep you all updated.... cross your fingers for me!

Long Long Ago....

Long, Long ago I had a blog... and I was a faithful blogger. And then I came back to the world of blogging and kept promising to blog more. Life has just been way to busy folks- but now I'm back.

At this point in my WLS journey I am 19 months out and I feel like I'm still learning how my new body reacts. Don't get me wrong... It's much better than it was even a year ago. I have learned that my body is definitely going through phases still. There will be weeks that I can't stop eating. Luckily I am eating what I should be eating but I know my quantity intake is way too high. Other weeks I don't get anything in but maybe a protein shake in the morning because my pouch feels "too small" to fit anything else in it. Weird, I know.

Then there is the whole weight loss issue. I can least show you a pretty exciting update on the weight loss since the last time I posted but let's be real... it's coming off WAY slow now.  There are weeks at a time where I can't move the scale more than 2 pounds without another couple of week stall. Then just like everything that this WLS features another week I will lose 5 pounds with nothing else changing. It's a roller coaster that don't get me wrong... I'm glad to be on!

So here it is.... the update (no body pictures this time folks- I don't have any photo help right now....) and PLEASE ignore the need for my much needed pedicure!

So that is a total of 143 pounds lost since the morning of my surgery! 

(And let's be honest... there was the purge the few days before surgery 

so I'm definitely counting this as 150+ pounds lost!!)

So what am I doing? Eating good- letting myself have things off the no-no naughty list 1x a month (like 1 piece of low fat pizza), staying away from sugars (because I still dump like crazy), eating protein before anything else, and loving veggies. I work out 3-4 times a week but have recently tried upping it to 5 days a week. 3 cardio days where I run and 2 other days where I do some "Weight Loss Yoga" (It's a Biggest Loser DVD. It's awesome) I am actually trying to find a rec center that offers Yoga classes so I can move past the DVD I've had for almost 2 years :)

My biggest issue right now? Fitting in. Not with friends or family (again, who most don't know) but with   clothing stores. I've graduated from Lane Bryant and company store like this... I went to old Navy and the jeans just aren't working for me. My co-workers will call me "poopy drawers" because of how bad the jeans sag in my butt area. No more junk-in-the-trunk for me. Has anyone out there found luck in pants? I know I just need to do some trial and error. Go to stores, try on, and move on if it doesn't work. I feel like I'm just such a bad judge of what looks good anymore! Suggestions WLSers?

Much love and more posts... I promise :)

Jessica