What a Difference a Coupla Years Makes ...

Singing about the crumbling Interstate-40 crosstown bridge to the tune of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," with my talented cohort Robert Burch. I'm about 80 pounds down in this shot. Photo by Bob Frowe. I still have pounds to go, but this looks and feels a whole lot better. 

I've been singing and dancing badly since 2000 in the Oklahoma City Gridiron Club benefitting about $500,000 in journalism scholarships since the club began long before I was born in 1928. 

The musical political satires, similar to Capitol Steps, happen some time in February after the Oklahoma Legislature's annual session starts. It's generally right after the governor du jour gives his or her State-of-the-State address. We've had three presidents, three governors and two lite guvs during that time. 

Two years ago, I was probably pretty close to my all time high weight of 273 pounds. Here's a screen shot off the club's website.  I'm the tub on the left, hamming it up as a race speedway fan, and there is my friend Robert Burch to the right in his lovely plaid shirt. 

I'm playing a disgruntled speedway fan on the left in the February 2011 show at 273 pounds, my all-time high weight. 

It's been a long couple of years, deciding to have my gastric sleeve surgery in June, working through all the tests, losing the 5 percent of my body weight my insurance company required and getting my surgery Dec. 27, 2011. 

I'm always amused when people say things like, "well, I lost the weight the real way...." or "I lost it the natural way." The People magazine after the first of the year had two women on the cover who had lost half their weight. The sub-headline screamed, "No gimmicks. No surgery." 

I don't advocate for weight loss surgery, but I also resent it when people put it down like it's the easy way out or that it's a gimmick. You still have to do the hard work of portion control, choosing your foods wisely and it's not all that fun to be on the liquid diet for the couple of weeks after surgery and then gently teach your stomach to eat again, like with cottage cheese and scrambled eggs. 

Weight loss surgery is a tool — a very effective tool to get the weight off. But it's not easy and it's not a gimmick. 

Working on losing an additional 10 pounds to fit in a dress for my darlin' daughter's wedding. She's lost more than 70 pounds in the past year, partly because she was scared she was going in the same direction as me on weight. She looks fabulous and will be wearing a size 4 wedding dress. It makes me smile. 

I'm not through yet. 

Onward,

Carol 

Comparing Visits to Two Island Prisons, Two Years Later

At Alcatraz Island with San Francisco in the background, September 2012.

Two years ago in September 2010, almost to the day, hubby and I visited Robben Island in Table Bay off Cape Town, South Africa, where legendary SA President and Nobel Peace laureate Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years (of his total 27-year imprisonment) along with many other political prisoners.

In spite of the shape I was in, I remember it as a fabulous vacation — one of the best ever — and thankfully, I didn't have to walk much. That was a good thing because of my much higher weight at the time. I'm guessing I was probably in the 250s and now I'm in the 190s.

At Robben Island, South Africa, September 2010

My husband snapped lots of pics of me in South Africa and one is to the right. I have no idea how much I weighed at the time, but believe it or not, I thought I was looking pretty good even if I was somewhat self-conscious and wanting him to shoot from the waist up only. I remember how bad my body felt at the time: sluggish, painful knees, painful feet, out-of-breath constantly. Not good. On two blood-pressure meds, one anti-inflammatory, one anti-depressant, size 24 jeans.

Last weekend, hubby and celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary in San Francisco. We did lots of walking, but what struck me was when I saw the picture taken from our tour of Alcatraz Island, where the country's worst criminals were kept.

When the Alcatraz pic was snapped, above, my muscles were sore from having walked up and down about 20 blocks of San Francisco's super steep hills the day before en route from the hotel to Fisherman's Wharf, but it was a different kind of sore. It was soreness from using my muscles in a new way going up and down the hills. A good kind of soreness.

I'm now off all my meds except for one blood pressure med and in size 14 jeans. I wasn't huffing and puffing up the walkways at Alcatraz, and didn't have to take the tram for elderly and/or disabled people to get to the top or down from "The Rock."

What a difference two years make. My journey toward better health has slowed down since my gastric sleeve surgery Dec. 27, 2011, but the progress continues.

Another notch in my belt, so to speak.

Onward,
Carol

Big NSV or Non-Sleeve Victory: Getting 'Belted'

Seat belt fastened April 26, 2012, en route to New York City.

Little things can be big victories. For those of us who have had gastric sleeve surgery, we call those NSVs or non-sleeve victories.

One of those happened last Thursday, April 26, when I flew to New York City for a conference. The last time I'd flown was in October 2011 to Las Vegas, also for a conference, likely at 273 pounds and with my airline seat belt let all the way out.

At right is how my seat belt looked Thursday on Delta 6015, 63 pounds down. And I can't tell you how much more comfortable I was in my seat. No comparison. I had to wonder if my seatmate thought I was nuts taking pictures of my lap.

I held my own while eating out for a week, making good protein-focused, veggie-focused choices. I confess to having a couple of glasses of wine at the cocktail parties Friday and Saturday evenings, which are not on plan.

The second night I was there, I ate at the lovely new restaurant Vitae on 46th Street around the corner from the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan and had probably the best diver scallops I've ever eaten. It was just an appetizer and all I really needed that night.  Although I thought I'd found a restaurant on apps Yelp or Urbanspoon, I started out looking for a restaurant that turned out to be closed. It was a serendipitous thing to happen. Vitae was next door to the closed restaurant.

Vitae's Seared Diver Scallops with Cashews and Raisins

The scallops were sweet and perfectly seared, with cashews, golden raisins, Thai curry sauce and a light lime foam.

My whole philosophy of eating since surgery is that you can still eat wonderful things -- just a whole lot less of them. This was the perfect meal for me.

I didn't lose any more weight last week, but considering I ate out all week, I don't feel too badly about it.

I also took my monthly measurements today, which were about the same as last month.

I've decided that I need to ratchet my efforts up a bit and work harder on portion control, weighing my food, journaling on LiveStrong MyPlate and I also need to increase my cardio, strength training and I'll be doing yoga Friday.

Here's my measurements as of today:

May 2, 2012
Bust w/o bra: 41.5", -1.5"
Waist: 39", -4"
Hips: 46", -4.5"
Neck: 15.5, -1.25"
Upper right arm: 14.25", -1.75"
Right Thigh: 28", -2.25"
Right Calf: 17.5", -.25"


April 1, 2012
Bust w/o bra: 42", -1"
Waist: 39", -4"
Hips: 45", -5.5"
Neck: 15", -1.5"
Upper right arm: 15", -1"
Right Thigh: 27", -3.25"
Right Calf: 17", -.75"

Jan. 20, 2012 (The first time I measured after my Dec. 27, 2011, gastric sleeve surgery.)
Bust w/bra: 43"
Waist: 43" (makes me wonder if I'm a tree trunk ... I think getting a waist back will be sublime!)
Hips: 50.5"
Neck: 16.25"
Upper right arm: 16"
Right Thigh: 30.25"
Right Calf: 17.75"

Onward,
Carol

Just When I Thought Only a Handful of My Friends Were Reading My Blog ...

... I was messing with my blog's design element trying to figure out how to add labels and clicked on "Stats."

Wow.

In the order of frequency, I've had visitors from the United States (of course,) Russia, Canada, Germany, Australia, Nigeria, United Kingdon, India, Argentina and Brazil. And they're in the thousands.

I am humbled. Thanks to everybody for reading and caring. I no longer feel like I'm writing into the black hole of blogging since my Dec. 27, 2011, gastric sleeve surgery.

If I could still turn a cartwheel, I would. Instead, maybe I'll just invent a recipe or two.

Onward,
Carol