Attempting to Zumba

Trying to keep motivated and not bored, I gave in and purchased Zumba for the Wii from Amazon. Let me tell you, I have NO RHYTHM. But it gets me moving, and working up a sweat. Right now I'm doing the beginner sessions at 20 minutes each.

I finally took a recent photo of myself as well. This is at 60lbs down, where I currently am.

Let's try this again.

There's no better time to start over on your fitness/health goals than the first of the year, so here we go...

I'm doing the #30daywin challenge on instagram (follow me @quelyn01), basically working every day for the next 30 days. I'm also tracking everything again.

I've cleaned out my cupboards from most of the Christmas candy and goodies....

I am also going to post more recipes :)

Bad Habits.

As you may have noticed, I have not posted a blog in quite some time. I have been struggling, pretty bad. I have been between 237lbs-240lbs for 6 weeks. At first I thought it was just a stall...and that stall would not go away, and I have been going back to bad habits.

By bad habits, I mean eating fast food (a small breakfast burrito from McDonald's or a wrap with dressing), coffee every day (not just black coffee with a simple creamer and no calorie sweetener, I mean a large 711 vanilla coffee from the machine, eating wayyyy too many carbs, not enough protein, and not tracking. I even had my first alcoholic drink--a shot of rum.

I feel like I do not have the motivation. I know it's still early in my "honeymoon phase," but I am STUCK.

When I saw my doctor the week after Thanksgiving, he said my weight was okay as long as I am still loosing (even thought I'd only lost 12lbs since the last time I saw him two months prior, and was stuck at that weight for weeks)--but I go back and see him in 6 more weeks, and I'm afraid I will still be the same weight!!!!

I really need to write out a menu for the next week, and start tracking again, but I am lazy, and unmotivated.

My foot is still messed up, I have a spur. I have not been exercising.

ARRRGGGGHHHH!

40lbs!

I look terrible in these pics! lol but here are some photos from 0lbs to 40lbs down.Still have a long ways to go....

I'm really getting tired of eating leftovers! I think I need to just stop making so much food. It's hard trying to plan meals for my family of 3 when it comes to potion sizes, and I get stuck eating leftovers for DAYS. I think I'm going to make some zucchini pizza later for lunch. I'll be sure to post it if I do!  

Stepping up on the exercise.

The last week I've been very lazy when it comes to exercise. I did walk twice at the park this week, but not for nearly as long as I should have...I've kind of been taking advantage of the doctor last week telling me to "take it easy" for the next week...

Well, today is a week later, so I guess no more excuses, right?

Goal for the next week with exercise:

2 miles, no matter how long it takes, 4x between now and next Friday. I can do that.

...I need to make a tracking sheet to keep track of my exercise, that way I'll have some kind of accountability to myself. Yes, that's what I'll do!

Urgent Care :(

My left ankle has been bugging me for about two weeks now. Yesterday we went to the fair, and we walked for at least 3 hours (if not more!) and it was throbbing when I got home :( This morning I woke up super early to it being just as painful, so I decided I better go to urgent care.

Turns out I have an inflamed Achilles tendon. Dr. says it was probably from when I was exercising. I have to take it easy for the next week and if it doesn't get better, I have to see the podiatrist. All I can do is take ibuprofen for it...glad I can still take that.

I'm down another pound. I'm now at 256lbs. My rings are slipping off of my fingers and it's quite annoying, and I don't want to have them resized right now because I'll more than likely have to resize them again later down the road.

I did give in and buy two new pairs of pants and two tank tops from Lane Bryant today. I got them a size smaller than I am now, so hopefully I'll be able to wear them. They had a really good sale today and I couldn't pass them up.

35lbs!

I don't think I'll be making my goal to weigh 250 by Sept 1...that's just a few days away, but I am down to 257lbs! That's 35lbs gone forever!

My scaled moved two days in a row, woohoo! I do have to admit I have not exercised since I went back to work, with the exception of yesterday. I'm so exhausted when I get home, I need to turn this around.

My clothes are feeling loose! I am able to fit into smaller pants that I previously "grew out of." I see so many cute clothes that are currently too small for me that I want to buy, but I just cannot imagine fitting into them, so I'm scared :(

1 month post op check up!

Today was my 4 week post op check up!

The doctor is very happy with my 31lb weight loss. He said I'm right on target, and should be loosing anywhere from 1.5-3lbs a week.

The only thing he suggested was that I step up my exercising to EVERYDAY...and strap on a back pack full of phonebooks and put on ankle weights while I walk to build muscle....I guess it makes sense. He said that with all the intake of protein, your body needs to do something with it,and while some weeks you may not loose pounds, you will loose inches when that protein turns into muscle.

I see him again in one month instead of two weeks since I'm doing so well :) Yay me! haha. Here is a picture I took yesterday.

First Post Op Check-up!

Day 13!

I had my first post-op visit today with my doctor. He's happy with my progress and has progressed me on to pretty much all foods that are soft. I'm so glad to be able to start cooking again and trying new recipes! Not to mention, being able to actually chew foods haha.

He removed the taps from my scars (well, still forming scars), there are no signs of an infection. He also cleared me for any physical activity and wants me to push myself on the treadmill. He says my stomach is about 80% healed and I won't be able to "hurt it" with exercise or other physical activity.

I did tell him that I was still feeling exhausted at times, especially while walking. He said it will probably last about another week.

I go back in two weeks, the day I go back to work. Boohoo! Work? Blah!

Last night I had Weight Watcher's Taco Soup (recipe is below) for dinner. I only had a little over 1/4 cup and 2 saltine crackers, it was so good!

The next big goal I'm setting for myself is to weigh 250lbs. That will be my pre-pregancy weight from nearly 8 years ago. That's 17lbs to go! Hoping to accomplish this by Sept 1!

Taco Soup Recipe:

1 15oz can tomato sauce
2 cans of turkey chili
1lb ground turkey, cooked
1 can black beans
1 sm can diced green chilies
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 packet of hidden valley ranch
1 packet taco mix
1 1/2c water
1c frozen corn (I did not add corn because I cannot eat this yet)

Heat all contents and serve! Can top with diced onion and cheese as well.

Do not try this at home! (well...if you're less than 2 weeks post op)

I got brave today, and I regretted it.

I took a bite of chicken, chewed up really good, and a bite of soft broccoli. Wow! I will not be doing that again soon. It felt like a brick in my throat/stomach and I threw up a little.

It was only liquid that I threw up, not what I had just eaten. I think it was the brocolli that did it because I had a bite of chicken last night when I cooked it for my family and it was perfectly fine. No more broccoli for a bit. I think I didn't chew it well enough.

In other news, I am in the 260's! My weight this morning was 267lbs! I've lost 25 pounds total! 10 since surgery (today is day 11, so that's about a pound a day!!) I have a feeling I'm going to stall for a few days...I know it's coming.

I walked for 20 minutes yesterday, .75mile. Today I took a break, but I did more cleaning around the house to kind of make up for it :)

I've been eating around 600 calories a day, and I've been managing about 60-65g of protein!

After I drop 5 more pounds I'm going to take some new body shots to compare to my pre-surgery weight. I doubt there we be a difference that is noticeable in the photos though.

9 days post surgery, additions to my diet.

Today is my 9th day post op. I finally added two new things to my diet. Scrambled eggs and pork rinds....no not together!

Since the doc is allowing me instant mashed potatoes, I figured scrambled eggs cannot hurt. Let me tell you, this egg tasted like steak!!! It seriously was that good. I added a small sprinkle of cheese, salt and pepper. I almost made two eggs, but I am so glad I didn't. I was STUFFED after eating one egg.

I was reading about types of snacks that others have been eating post surgery, and one of them that's recommended to get something "crunchy" are pork rinds. I hadn't eaten these since I was little and I love them! I am able to eat them right now because they do melt away in your mouth. Guess what? One serving has only 80 calories, 5g fat, 0 carbs, and 8g protein! Some have 7g protein and some have 9g protein, it all depends on the brand you get.

I see the doctor in 4 days for a checkup, that's right before my pureed stage starts. I'm excited to get to that stage! There is a really good recipe from "The World according to Egg Face" that sounds really good. It's a baked ricotta recipe! I could probably eat that now, but I do not want to push it. I can wait 4 more days...I hope!

I've been able to do light exercise. I usually hop on the treadmill for about 15 mins/.5 mile and do light weights with my arms. I really want to get my energy/stamina back like before surgery. Pre-surgery I was walking for 50 mins, and jogging for 10 (every few mins I would do a sprint, totally up to 10 mins with in the hr of exercise).

I'm down 22lbs! 15 pre surgery, 7 post surgery.

Air Bubbles! Protein! Weight.

Today is day 6 after surgery. Still trying the best way to eat and drink without getting air bubbles. Most of them don't hurt, they are just annoying, but once in a while I will get some that HURT!

I'm not using a straw, but I am using spoons for most things. When I swallow my food/drink, It doesn't feel like any air goes down with it....but then about 30 seconds later, I feel that air bubble!! Usually just a small burp, but still quite annoying. I know this is very common and it really cannot be avoided.

My scale is still sitting at 273lbs. I was expecting it to be at least down to 270 by now, but I from what I've read, this is pretty standard. My body is still adjusting and you don't have a huge weight loss. As long as that scale has not moved up, and continues to go down, that is perfectly fine with me! I guess now that I think about it, I've lost 19lbs in the last month (15 pre op, 4 post surgery), that's pretty damn good. I think I need to stop getting on the scale every day. That's so much easier said than done though! I'm really looking forward to seeing 269 lbs on the scale because I have not seen that number in AT LEAST 6 or 7 years! One step at a time! Gotta keep telling myself this.

My diet is going pretty well. My meals for the day usually include liquid phase):

1 serving of Cream of Wheat (this makes 2 meals)
1 protein shake (usually half in the morn and the other half later in the day)
1 4oz yogurt (sometimes 1 meal, other times 2)
1 can of chicken broth or 1/2 can of strained cream of ____ soup.
1/2c instant mashed potatoes (usually this is 2 meals as well)

The mashed potatoes I just started yesterday, I tried to have them on day 4 but my body was not ready, either I made them too thick or my tummy just didn't want to take them--they hurt going down.

I have to remind myself to eat, which is weird. I've never had to do that before. I am going to hop on my treadmill. I'm going to try for half a mile and go from there. I get exhausted really quickly still. I feel like there are bricks on my shoulders sometimes and this is very exhausting!

My doctor didn't give me an exact number to aim for for protein in my liquid phase. I'm aiming for 50. My protein drinks alone are 30, so I make that my priority! I cannot wait to have chicken or fish again....it's only been a week, but I really want some :)