What's Bugging Me ... Another Hairy Dilemma

Greetings my bariatric surgery-interested friends:

It's now been about two-and-a-half years since I was "sleeved" and I haven't been sorry even one day since.

Dining at Oklahoma City's Bricktown River Walk, July 2014

That said, there have been a few bumps in the road and some I didn't expect. One of the biggest has been my hair debacle. I didn't mind when I went from a dark brunette to salt-and-pepper in my late 20s and 30s to mostly silver at about 45 and now about completely silver at 60. (Wow, did I say that? I'm 60. How did that happen?) That was gradual and gave me plenty of time to get used to it.

I expected to lose some hair after my sleeve after reading many of the bariatric message boards after my surgery, especially Bariatric Pal.
But what I didn't figure on was what came in after that.

Curls. I mean serious curls. And it just keeps getting curlier.

Note the ringlets underneath. Anaheim, Calif., Sept. '13

To be fair, all that curliness seemed to accelerate after I had surgery for a thrombosed hemorroid Aug. 1, 2013. You don't want one of those. Think red hot poker to sit on for a week or so and the pain drugs weren't all that effective. But that's another post. Just don't let yourself get constipated and I'll leave it at that.

Back to the hair.

A seriously bad hair day. In Taiwan at Yingge Pottery Street, Nov. '13

I noticed little baby hairs growing back in, but when I visited beautiful Taiwan late last October/early November, it seemed like all of a sudden I had this combination of stringy frizz and ringlets under it because of the constant drizzly rain from the approaching outer bands of the huge typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines on Nov 8, 2013.

I was among a group of 22 international journalists from 17 countries and between all the pictures taken by our hosts, the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and all the other journos, my bad hair days were well-recorded.

I'm starting a blog series on that trip "Taiwan Tales," just FYI. If you're interested, you can find it at ToAndFrowe.

When I returned home to Okla./Texas, the first thing I did was schedule a haircut to manage this mess. Part of my hair was still sorta straight and then there were those darn ringlets. And it kept growing in a weird way, not all curly, not all straight. My terrific stylist Amanda at Three Graces Salon in Oklahoma City cut it again and gave it some more shape and layering.

Bloggin' on the back porch. June 5, 2014

When nature messes with your hair, it kind of messes with your self-image too. I've interviewed breast cancer survivors over the years, and after losing their hair from chemo, often it grew back another color and curly. This must be sort of similar, although 100 percent of those women were just happy to be a survivor and most didn't care about what color or texture their hair is now. In fact, they embraced it. I'm trying.

The good news is that I'm learning to like it, although still begrudgingly because I'd always identified with having straight hair (except when it rained.) And I just wash my current mop and comb it and let it dry naturally. So easy. And I can make it even curlier by scrunching it and blow drying it with a diffuser. Who needs that though?

The bad news? I confess that I miss my former straight hair terribly though. Too bad. Move on.

I think it makes me look a bit older, but heck, I am getting older (if I'm lucky.) And there are a few other things that are "bugging me," that I'll be blogging about soon to help me tackle them. Gotta have a sense of humor about all of it.

Let me know if you've had anything similar and how you handled it. Thanks in advance.

Onward,
Carol
 

Editing My Life -- Buh-Bye Bread and other Resolutions

OK, confession time. 

I'd been playing with three or four pounds for several months now, flirting with Onederland (often in the 100s, but continuing to not be totally rid of the 200s which kept popping up on my scale.) It was discouraging to say the least. You don't go get half your stomach cut out not to keep losing weight and get to goal.

Blame it on traveling during the summer to a travel bloggers conference in Keystone, Colo., for about four days in June; 17 days in late June and July in Lagos, Nigeria, to help my husband repatriate (hooray he's back working in the States and really most of what there was to do there was just eat); Barcelona, Spain, for about 9-10 days in late July to visit darlin' daughter who was studying abroad — yes, more eating and drinking; and San Franscisco over the long Labor Day weekend  for hubby's and my fifth anniversary — loved the seafood and drinks in the Redwood Room at the Clift Hotel. Fun times, but watch out — they'll kill you.

We ate too much (well, maybe not too much, but not the right things.) We drank too much, which is something we gastric sleevers must watch like the majestic red-tailed hawks that are so prevalent in Oklahoma and Texas. Gotta swoop down and especially purge that.

When I got back from San Franscisco, I decided something needed to change. On the advice of my weight-loss physician, I'd stopped strength training about 15 months ago. And I'd never done quite as much as the recommended cardio.

So I found a new personal trainer and started working out a few weeks ago. And instead of my weight going down, it's been creeping up and about a week ago was back up to 203.4 pounds, which was still 70 pounds lost, but down from 78 pounds lost at my lowest point. I know some is muscle, but this has gotta stop and now.

I decided about a week ago to examine where I could make improvements and here they are:

• Cut out the alcohol, unless it's a really, really, REALLY special occasion. And then limit it and count it in my online tracker.

• Portion control on everything. If I bite it, write it; if I drink it, ink it. That's not an original saying by the way, but unfortunately I don't know where it came from or I'd attribute it. Let me know if you know.

• Buh-bye bread. I'd let bread and some other starches creep back up on my a little. Complex carbs have gotta go until I make goal.

• Move more, whether it's 30 minutes of walking the dog (dog likes that!) to hitting the stationary bike at the gym. Today's it's an hour of yoga, and doing a whole bunch of gardening tonight (which will make me happy when I drive up.) And I'm resolved to find more ways to move more in ways that make me happy and feel good. Maybe next week I'll buy one of those old Schwinn bicycles and a bike rack I've been coveting.

• I decided kitchen clutter and grime was a metaphor for sloppy eating. Looked up Flylady for inspiration and I scrubbed every inch of my kitchen this morning, throwing numerous out-of-date items out of the frig and washed all my frig shelves and crispers. I washed the fronts of cabinet doors and the tops of the countertops, relocating most of the clutter that had found it's way there. 

This morning, I edged back into Onederland thankfully. Now the goal is to hang onto it and keep making progress. I figure sometimes you just have to hit yourself in the head and say I'm not going back to the bad ol' days.

So that's it for now. I feel unstuck and moving again.

All encouragement is appreciated. You and I can do this and be healthier. 

Onward,
Carol

P.S. Here's my new ticker, with my back to Onederland weight on it:

Hairy Dilemma

Bald is beautiful. On Jean-Luc Picard — yes. On Shaquille O'Neal — yes. On LL Cool J — most definitely yes.

Baby hairs growing back now that the hair loss is slowing down.

But usually not on women, although I think my "sisters" battling cancer are all beautiful. I don't have cancer, so that's a whole 'nother deal.

One of the things they don't tell you about before you get weight loss surgery is that many people have trouble with excessive hair loss three or four months after surgery.

My hair loss hit at four months almost to the day and with a vengeance. Every time I brushed it, blow-dried it, touched it, ran my hands through it — out it came. Usually in a handful of four or five long strands. Or more.

Fortunately, I have or had a thick mane of prematurely silver hair and a lot to lose. And I've always shed a lot and gotten teased about it.

This was different. It was coming out fast. It was all over my car, my house, everywhere.

I did a lot of reading on my favorite gastric sleeve surgery website, verticalsleevetalk.com. Apparently it's not uncommon to lose hair after having any kind of anesthesia or major surgery. I don't remember having hair loss after I had a C-Section with my now 26-year-old daughter, but I've slept since then and she was one heckuva distraction. I probably wouldn't have noticed anyway.

Mine is starting to grow back out and I have little baby hairs like crazy around my part. Hubby and I were in San Francisco celebrating our fifth anniversary over the long weekend and those baby hairs frizzed up and I was actually happy about it. Hubby says I'm "regenerating." I understand this is pretty common.

Here are some of the suggestions I've read. Of course, I'm not endorsing any of the products, obviously, because I haven't tried them all. Just throwing them out there:

• Cut your hair shorter. I didn't, because darlin' hubby likes it shoulder length and I like it too. Hasn't made a lot of difference to have it longer. Suit yourself on that one.

• Don't put it in ponytails. I do this a lot when I work out or just around the house or gardening. I hear that if you pull it tight, it can be tough on the roots. I've cut back on pulling it back except for working out or gardening in 100-degree Oklahoma or Texas weather. But I don't pull it back hard.

• Take Biotin. It turns out there is 600 mcg or 200 percent of your daily needs in the Bariatric Advantage multivitamins I take like religion daily, so I don't take any additional Biotin. Read your labels.

• Nioxin shampoo. I haven't tried this and I understand it's expensive. I'm just throwing it out there. I personally use Kiehl's shampoo (also not cheap) and love it. Now if I lost more hair, I might do some experimenting.

• Aveda Invati Scalp Revitalization System shampoo, conditioner and spray. I just learned about this and it has some great reviews online.

• Nutri-ox from Sally's Beauty Supply. I also haven't tried this, but ditto on the good reviews.

• Stay hydrated. I understand that being dehydrated can aggravate hair loss. Who needs aggravated hair loss? Nope. Not me. And staying hydrated has so many other benefits, like making your skin look good, systems function right, etc. My doc recommends no less than 64 ounces a day, which I usually take in via PowerAde Zero, Fuze Slenderize or Sobe Life-energy drinks, which have less than 15 calories per eight-ounce serving.

• Massage your scalp. Hey, that's going to feel good anyway. Or better yet, get your significant other to do that.

• Start early. Make sure your locks are good and healthy before surgery or the dreaded three or four-month hair loss. The more you have, the more you can lose.

Hope that helps if that's an issue you're having.

Onward,
Carol

Thank You, My Friend

A few months ago, I commented that I didn't know if anyone was really reading my TALO blog. My philosophy was mostly that I wanted to hold myself accountable and if anybody else got something from it, that would be gratifying.

I got a Facebook message yesterday from a dear friend and former colleague who moved out-of-state a couple of years ago. She's also married to a tall, lanky drink-of-water kind of guy, whom I suspect has the same kind of hollow legs as my 6'2" hubby.

"I know as a writer you don't always know that you have been an inspiration or help to someone. You even commented you didn't know if anyone was reading one of your blogs. Well, I'm writing to say thank you and let you know you've been a big inspiration to me for the last several months," she wrote.

With a couple of 'Alien' street performers in Barcelona in late July 2012.

She dieted for about six months for insurance reasons before Roux N-Y surgery mid-summer. And she has many of the same co-morbidities that I've struggled with — sleep apnea, high blood pressure, bad knees, etc. 

My friend is probably a little younger than I am, but we're both in about the same place lifestyle-wise. And I have a feeling we're both lucky women in that our hubbies love us no matter whether we're lean and mean or maybe not so much.

Here's a bit more of what she wrote:


"In January, I was looking for a blog from someone who had been through it. Imagine how excited I was to find one from a person I know and respect!! (I need you to write more, by the way.) So, I've been following it and you!

"It was great because we also do the wine on the patio thing and travel and just flat love to eat. ... I lost 15 pounds before and 16 so far since. So thank you for the times I wasn't sure I would be able to go through with it. And for lately. I've been looking back through to see how you handled what and when. This is crazy stuff but I think it's all going to be well worth it. (Oh, I had the Roux-N-Y). I so want a glass of wine! We are going on a cruise in September ... maybe then."

I was so touched and her message made me all teary and it's still having that effect. I'm not going to use her name for privacy reasons, but I know she'll be reading this and I wanted her to know how much her message meant to me. Thank you for that, dear friend.

I wrote back what a great tool that my gastric sleeve has been, and one thing I know for sure is that a person still has to do the hard work of staying on the weight-loss program. There's nothing like making a permanent lifestyle change and not giving yourself an out on it.

I've had some challenges: extended weight-loss stalls, hair loss, occasional nausea when I eat out with friends and sometimes slip into old habits of eating too fast.

The most obvious victory is my about 75-pound weight loss and how much better I feel, especially my knees, feet and back. 

And I've had lots of NSVs, also known as non-sleeve victories. I'm off all meds except for one — a blood-pressure med. My sleep apnea is lots better, and I'm hopeful that one day I'll be able to go without the Hannibal Lecter look-a-like CPAP mask. And forgive the indelicacy of it, but even my stress incontinence is much better. My new size 14 jeans purchased for the Barcelona trip are already getting loose. I think just by looking at the look on my face in the picture above, you can tell how much happier I am.

My hubby is amazed at how much better I'm feeling.  He tried hard to talk me out of having the surgery, but now is enjoying my increased energy and general improvement in my healthy well-being and comments on it frequently. I think he's come around.

Probably my biggest complaint is my whine about wine, or the lack thereof, to get off the weight. Can't have it often and lose weight. Plus, I just don't enjoy it as much. It kind of bothers my stomach some. I'm also finding the times I've had what I'd call a Carol Cosmo — vodka mixed with some Fuze low-cal fruit drink — I can't metabolize the alcohol very well and it hits me like the proverbial ton-of-bricks. Pretty much knocks me off my rocker. Not a good thing.

There are bumps, but they are getting smaller and the NSVs are getting more and larger. I'm going to stay after it.

Thanks, my friend, for the encouragement. Sometimes you get it when you least expect it. I'll be rooting for you and stay in touch!

Onward,
Carol




 

Getting a Grip on the Roller Coaster

OK, I have no more excuses.

I need to get back to blogging and back to holding myself accountable, now that I'm healthy again and have no excuses.

For those who didn't follow my TALO blog, I had a series of health issues. First an abscessed molar while in Africa. Rambo antibiotics to get me home to the U.S. so I could get it addressed. And a day after getting the bad molar pulled, I had a couple of days of high temps, flu-like symptoms and Montezuma's like you wouldn't believe. The temps and flu-stuff went away, but the explosive "Monte" stayed around — for three weeks, including a long-planned trip to visit my daughter in Barcelona. I went anyway, but it was tough.

Many (negative) tests ensued, included a negative malaria test. My doc said I just had a virus. OK, virus begone — please.

My weight see-sawed during this time down to 193 pounds and back up to 203. I even threw up in some big-time places on my trip, including during turbulence on the way to Barcelona and in a two-Michelin-star restaurant and after eating my first goat ever, which I think was just too rich for my sleeve.

My system finally settled down and I got back to normal at about 199-200. I wasn't complaining.

I was just trying to string together some healthy days, and now I have.

During my sick three weeks, I tried to blog on our travel blog, ToAndFrowe.com, and was informed by my lovely and protective daughter that, "it's not up to your usual writing standards. Don't blog, Mom, until you feel better."

Now I'm back on that horse and riding it. I've started edging down again and was at 197 this morning. And I'm blogging.  

OK.

Onward,
Carol 

Tips from the Road: Traveling When You've Had Gastric Sleeve Surgery

The Indian Taco at Tocabe American Indian Eatery in Denver.

In the past few weeks, I've been going, going, going, and haven't been doing a lot of posting, posting, posting.

All that traveling has meant a whole lotta eating out and challenges to stay on track with my six-month-old gastric sleeve surgery. But I did pretty well and managed to get a few more pounds off.

I was in Houston and Galveston Island, Texas in late May, visiting friends and family with hubby; Keystone, Colo., at TBEX12, a travel blogger conference in mid-June; Kerrville in the Texas Hill Country at a family memorial service a couple of weeks ago; and am writing this from Lagos, Nigeria, where I'm helping hubby move back to the States (He worked there the past four years.)

And I confess that while I tried a few things that weren't strictly on the program, I found I could find something workable on just about any restaurant menu even Italian restaurants. Several of the hotels where I/we stayed, particularly Keystone Lodge, had nice kitchens with refrigerators great for stashing the leftovers.

Hubby's Texas waffle. Yikes, I didn't eat this.

Here's a few tips from the road:

Make good choices: Driving to Keystone, I stopped in Denver at Tocabe American Indian Eatery, an Osage Indian-themed restaurant I'd heard about on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on Food Network. The pic above was actually my neighbor's Indian Taco she kindly allowed me to photograph.

I ordered the equivalent only without the fry bread, a Melting Pot Salad with pulled bison brisket flavored with pungent herbs and spices, black beans, salad, cheese and roasted house-made salsa, romaine lettuce with a squirt of sour cream and chipotle sauce. I should probably mention that I'm not a big believer in fry bread as a Native American food because it came about from the rations of flour and lard Native American tribes received from the U.S. Government on their forced relocations from the East Coast in the 1800s.

I'm a big fan of main-dish salads, grilled proteins and veggies when eating out. I've mentioned before that the grilled chicken at KFC is one of the few fast foods I'll eat.

Assorted Sashimi Plate at Full Moon Café in Norman, Okla.

Stay away from the white food: Eat around the rice, potatoes, grits, pasta — or better yet, tell the wait staff you'd rather have more veggies or fruit instead. As much as I love sushi, I stuck with the beautifully presented Assorted Sashimi Plate (sushi seafood without the rice) recently at the Full Moon Café in Norman, Okla. High quality protein, no fat, no carbs.

Start with the protein: Because I fill up so quickly, I eat my protein first, veggies second and fruit third if I have room.


Hubby and I ate at the wonderful Pearl Garden restaurant on Victoria Island on my birthday a few days ago and I ordered Prawns and Cashews in a Crispy Basket. The prawns didn't have any sauce on them, but were perfectly cooked, tender and succulent. I loved the presentation in the crispy potato basket, but didn't eat that. I snapped a pic, just because the dish was so beautiful. I did have some wine, which brings me to my next point. 

Prawns and Cashews in a Crispy Basket at Pearl Garden

Watch out for the alcohol: I've found if I have wine, I don't lose. And hard liquor knocks me on my butt promptly; I just can't metabolize it very well. More on that in a soon-to-come post. It also breaks the rule about not having liquids with more that 15 calories per 8 ounce serving. Hmmmmm — makes me thirsty just thinking about it.

Stay hydrated: Bring your low-cal sports drinks in a cooler. I like the Fuze Slenderize, PowerAde Zero, Sobe Lifewater. Unfortunately, PowerAde doesn't fit in my drink holder in the car though, which is inconvenient.

On a related note, drink lots of water while waiting for your entreé: Because I can't drink liquids while I'm eating, I drink my water first. Steph, my fantastic WeightWise nutritionist/dietician, says we're supposed to wait an hour before drinking anything after eating — so get your water while you can.

This morning, dry and unpainted, I was down to 204 pounds, which is 69 pounds lost from my all-time high of 273. Weight loss has been slow and I'm still losing hair, so I know my body is still adjusting to changes.

Onward,

Carol

50 Pounds Gone!!!

Hooray! Hooray!!

Saturday, I notched 50 pounds gone forever since my highest weight of 273 last summer and it feels great. And I've lost 33 pounds since my gastric sleeve surgery weight of 256 on Dec. 27, 2011, with Dr. Gregory Walton of WeightWise.

There are already so many NSVs or Non-Sleeve Victories:
• I've gone from a size 22 to an 18 in jeans and to a size 16 in my stalwart, standard black pants.
• I can do a whole lot more yoga stretches than I could before. In fact, my yoga teacher Thomas said I'm doing the best I've ever done.
• I'm off one of my two blood pressure meds.
• I have a whole lot more energy already and am back to doing cardio and strength training.

I was going to post a my revised recipe for a pretty darn good Low-Carb Shepherd's Pie I made Friday, but I think I'll do that tomorrow.

I guess I'm going to have to break down and post some pictures. Sigh. I hate pictures.

Onward,
Carol

Nine weeks -- really??? How did that happen?

Wow! I feel like I'm on fast forward.

How did nine weeks go by so fast?

I'm feeling great. I'm at 225 and have lost 31 pounds since Dec. 27, 2011, surgery, and 48 pounds since I started my adventure last summer. I feel like I'm losing inches faster than pounds, although I'll check that out and record it on Thursday, March 1.

Weight loss has slowed to a crawl in the past three weeks, but I have confidence that it will go back to a maximum healthy weight rate of about 2 pounds a week. But I've only lost two pounds in three weeks.

My face and waist are changing. I'll post pictures sometime soon. I know my husband has surreptiously taken lots of "fat before" pictures (although he was just trying to snap a picture of me -- and I need to post those. I just wasn't ready to do that until I actually had the surgery and was a little ways out from it.

I want to up my cardio and strength training (sorry Dr. G -- yes, I want to do more strength training.)

I also plan to start doing some videos to record my journey and I'll put those up here too. Maybe I'll even flex for my darlin' hubby's entertainment.

I wish I'd started doing that earlier, but to tell the truth I had so little confidence in myself that I wanted to wait until I knew this would work and I wouldn't let my husband or one of my best friends talk me out of it in the first place. Sigh. Fortunately, at least one of those folks became one of my biggest cheerleaders. Love them all anyway.

Onward,
CC