29th September 2013 114.2 kgs today

I was hoping to be in the 113 kg range but not quite, probably tomorrow. I have walked most days this week. I tried to win Lotto but only 3 numbers max. A  person in Ponsonby won 2nd division and $33+ million. Bad luck for me good luck for them. I would love to win enough to get my kids homes of their own, and help out family and friends. Most people have a list of things they would do if they have a big lottery win I think.

I feel as though I have won the Lottery since having the LGS. I am losing weight and feeling much better. I am becoming more confident again. I went into a clothes shop that I have not bothered with as the sizes were too small. I saw some nice outfits and with about another 10 kilos off I should be able to start fitting them. It will expand my clothing options exponentially. At the moment Mum and I are the same weight. Next week I shall weigh less than her. This is not something I have done for many years.

We got out in our patio garden yesterday; did some tidying and re-potting. The lettuces I put in earlier in the week have disappeared. I think the birds may have got hungry or maybe snails are hiding somewhere close. Yams are in, some bulbs for Xmas time in  and begonias in a hanging basket as they did so well last year. I went back and forth watering with a watering can that had fertilizer in the water. The plants love having "Thrive"  and grow very well when we use it. Doing that counted as part of my walking for the day then I went over to the shops for the losing Lotto tickets.

I have just moved my rings one finger further up towards my thumb as when I have them in their usual places they are turning around on my hand and the front is ending up at the back. My fingers are getting too slim to hold them. More things I shall have to re-new. I love buying jewellery. It won't be a hardship to have to replace them as I love my bling. At least earrings only have one size so they will be keepers.

We did not get to the swimming pool this week as the weather was too wet and cold for Mum to be out in but it is spring so the weather is slowly improving and we will get there more often. The school holidays have started and go for 2 weeks. Daylight Saving started for us last night also. It is not something I like as my body does not accept the change well. I do like the longer daylight evenings though. 3 months left till Xmas so any gift making better start now. I have cross stitch ornaments to finally put backing fabric on as I did them many years ago. I have started knitting a lovely cable infinity scarf. It is supposed to be a cowl pattern but the wool and needles I have available are smaller so I shall use the name infinity scarf when people ask me about it.

I took photos the other day to show the difference in my stomach from 1 January 2013 till now.

They  show the difference that is occurring. they are also telling me to get to the gym and do some exercises that will tighten my stomach muscles up again. Swimming helps there also. I wish very large people would get over their hang-ups about getting into a pool as you can exercise without pressure on your joints and against the resistance of the water. It tightens the abdominal muscles , strengthens the back muscles and leg muscles but also loosens and lengthens any tight muscles you may have. You can ask the people in the pool office when there is a quiet time and go then. Only wankers make nasty comments about your weight and there are not too many around as they don't usually exercise. They are usually in their cars with the stereo pumping away, they would not know how to exercise other than walk inside and play computer games.

 



This does not show how I have lost weight this week all that much but it is sitting better on me and I can see the difference when I look in the mirror. I feel better in it and that is what we are all aiming for: good health and fitting our clothes better. Liking ourselves has got to be better mentally than forever looking into the mirror and saying to yourself "How could you let yourself get so big. You look ugly. No-one will love you, you can't even love yourself." No matter how much we deny to other that we think that on bad days we all do.

 

I LOVE MYSELF AND I AM WILLING TO DO THIS TO SHOW OTHERS I MEAN IT TRULY

114.9 kgs 0n 22 September 2013

I am feeling better each day. This week I did more exercise including using a fairly local pool. I live in Botany Downs opposite the Botany Town Centre and there is a pool to the north (Lloyd Elsmore Pool), one to the south (Otara Pool).

Lloyd Elsmore pool is quite a large complex and each time we have been it has been chaotic. It was always very noisy and people kept getting in the way of you exercising. The laned pool was very difficult to enter. Otara Pool has had a total revamp since I last used it before going to Australia for 5 years. It has a number of pools and the largest has shallow steps, with hand rails each side, or a ramp to enter the pool with. The lanes are labelled Aqua walking, slow, medium and fast. They are wide enough for a number of people to use at the same time. Mum did 20 minutes walking. I did 1/2 hour and managed to do 4 laps of the 7 types of walking I do in the pool. That was enough for my first outing as my thighs started to let me know that they had been used well. The pool depth was mid chest deep to upper chest deep. A good depth to walk in. Boy, did gravity let me know how heavy I still am as I came out of the water. Mum and I have decided to try to get there twice  a week from now on as we felt so much better for it.

We looked around part of the shopping area. Mum got some fabric for a summer dress for herself and a sarong for a Xmas present for my brother. We had a light lunch at a local bakery. Tried at a second hand store for a small spade but they only stocked furniture. It was back to the bus stop and back to Botany after that. I was pushing Mum in the wheelchair so that was part of my exercise also. My wrists did not hurt this time which they have other times I have pushed her in the wheelchair. They must be under less strain now.

While we were in a bookshop in Botany I had to dash to the toilet. This is a response you can get with a lot of exercise. The shop assistant came and checked with Mum that she had not been abandoned. When Mum queried why she asked the response was that sometimes people accidentally do it then come dashing back in to see if their parent was there. Mum laughed but said that  she knew where I was and expected me back in a few minutes.

We had a lovely KIP (knitting in public) meeting this week. It was 3 years since it started and we also did a happy birthday for everyone that comes. It was nice to have a nibble of the goodies. 3 small pieces instead of grazing the whole time as I used to. It was lunch in my mind as well so it did not impact on my weight loss. I lost weight the next day because of the exercise we did. I have photos of the day. I like the ladies that go and it is always fun to see what they have recently finished. I had some leggings to give to the lady involved in Knitting for Kidz First our local children's hospital. She was very happy to get them. The area is a lower socio-economic area and often they send the children admitted to hospital home with a care packet of clothing and blankets. They have found if they do this there is less re-admission problems. The housing they live in is usually crowded and cold. They may not have the right clothing to keep warm in winter weather. I like to do actual clothing or buy it as I don't have a lot of extra money but I do have time to give. I have the collar and ties left to do on a jacket for a 6 month  old boy baby. The ladies that go to KIP are lovely and I enjoy the conversations that arise.

We went to the shops for a short while afterwards and so I could have more exercise. Mum and I both found well priced things we could use as Xmas presents. Only 93 days to go as a blackboard outside a gift shop keeps saying. I got Xmas cards, Xmas paper and Xmas tags on Friday. It is never too early to start organising. I hope I don't put them away tidily and forget where I put the as I often do. I then have to tear my room up over an afternoon to find them.

My belly has receded back from the edge of my boobs (or in front of them as it was at one time) and I am standing straighter. My wrist feels smaller and I can feel bones under my skin more easily. I saw a post on the Net that said: your family notices when you lose 5 kgs, you notice when you lose 10 kgs and everyone else starts to notice when you lose 20 kgs. The ladies at KIP started to compliment me on my weight loss this week. Yay.

116 kgs 15th September 2013: next week in the 115's or less is my goal

I gained 0.3kgs at the start of the week which gave me a reality check. To make a difference I did a lot more walking: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and a very long walk on Friday. Mum and I were out and about at the shops for 4 hours+. This time I did feel a bit sore by the time I got home. With a short rest I could get up to cook the tea and put away our groceries at the same time. No back spasm crippling me like it used to. Positive reinforcement of the changes occurring in my body. Today my weight has reached 116 kgs and next week my aim is 115kgs or less. I'll put it in this blog to help me keep on course. I have a party to go to on the 24th October and it would be nice to be much closer to 100kgs than I am now. At the moment, no matter what I lose, it is the lowest I have been in the last 10+ years anyway.

I am noticing it is going from the top down and the bottom up. I don't always see the difference but I feel it in my clothes and body. I am like an anorexic in that I still don't see differences occurring. The mind is a powerful delusional tool at times. My brother has a friend who is much further along on this process and he is finding that he has become more invisible to people and it amazed him. When he was 140kgs people automatically got out of his way when he was walking. Now he is approaching a more normal weight of 90kgs he has to negotiate the footpaths like everyone else. At first he didn't like it but now he is taking it as a positive response to his weight loss. As an older woman I have become invisible to a lot of people but I admit you do get right of way when walking when you are larger in size. I may still get it as I am often with my Mum and she uses a mobility scooter. Only nutty Asian ladies leap in front of her.

I am not going to sleep early enough at the moment. I am not sure if my thyroxin is too high with my weight being lower. I shall get it checked with the next blood test. I shall have to keep the exercise level going and take my tablets earlier in the day. Might have them in my nightstand and take them when I first wake. I'll try that and see if there is a difference in when I feel like going to sleep. Last night I read a whole book and did not go to sleep till 6 a.m. this morning. I was up again at 10 a.m. Exercise early in the day helps sleep later so they say (the invisible THEY). Of course Pinterest might be the problem too. I am hooked on that.

 



Latest photos taken today. The more black and white one was taken almost a month ago. You might be able to notice that the shoulder, arms and upper chest are less than what they were. That abdominal fat will be the hardest to get rid off. I will do some sit ups at the gym too and check which weight exercise will improve my back and stomach muscle tone to straighten my spine again. It has spent so long trying to hold up a big stomach that the S-curve is more pronounced than it should be.

 

NEXT WEEK'S GOALS

• Walk daily
• Gym at least 3 times to get muscle tone back
• Eat more protein
• Drink at least 1200 mls and 1500 mls for preference
• Take vitamins every day with tablets
• Take tablets on early waking
• Have light out by 12m.n. each night

 



116.2 kgs 12 September 2013

Last week was wet and cold so I did not do as many walks. It reflected in my small weight-loss this week as you can see. I also did not get off my butt and walk over to the gym as I could have. Naughty me. It is only what I am willing to bestir myself to do that can make a big difference to my weight-loss journey and that is more visible to me since having the operation.

Before I could go up and down 2-3 kgs in a day and the only thing that seemed to make a great difference was the barometric pressure. I  could not directly relate it to the food I ate or the exercise I did. That divide has become more visible now. Saying that: I went up 0.3kgs today and the weather is wet and windy, barometric pressure lower due to a storm in the lower North Island.

 I went for a walk over to the library yesterday as I had 7 books to be returned and Mum only had one book left to read. Of course I also came back with 7 books. Did find 2 good books at a local bookstore (Paper Plus) at $5 that will be used as Xmas presents. I love getting good value, with low prices, for presents as I feel it is not the cost but the fact that you have thought about what the person is interested in and tried to buy, or even make, something they should love. 

I put my weekly photos on my Pinterest page http://www.pinterest.com/lighthausgirl/boards/ in my gastric sleeve board. The board has other information about LGS and other's success photos. There are links from some to recipes and smoothies that can be used. I am getting used to the size of portions finally so am having less problems. I am still learning the foods I cannot eat when I am out with friends and often that seems to have a direct correlation to how much fat is in the food. Fat is something my stomach lets me know about very quickly with dumping symptoms. Mini muffins ok, bigger muffins my mother would have to share with me.

It shows that the portions we have become used to, and now expect, are much too large and are probably keeping the majority of people obese in Western society. I have talked to my mother about what we used to get when I was much younger and we both think that there has been an up-scaling in size of portions with food brought at cafes and restaurants.

 

 

I love this top as it has nice shaping and having tried it on today I know I will be able to use it through the spring and into summer. It was one of my smaller tops anyway but the shaping at the sides and back help it drape around my body better giving me a slimmer outline still. The mottled pattern also helps as does the black/grey/white colour. I am taking encouragement from the two pages I scanned and printed out of an Oprah magazine of other women who have managed large weight-loss amounts in their lives.

 

On my corkboard beside the computer I have 2 signs I composed and printed out for myself. At the time I did so I was not sure how I would manage to lose my excess weight but I put it out into the Universe in a positive way. It was my brother who was the answering Angel that gave me the way for it to happen. Synchronicity of others coming into my life within minutes of him mentioning it helped confirm that this was going to be the way to do it for me.

 

Another stat that may interest you is that when this journey started my waist was 135 cms (53 inches) around. today it is 109 cms (43 inches). I have lost 26 cms or 10 inches in just a few months. No wonder my clothes are getting large on me. I have come back to the 10 inch difference between bust/waist and waist/hips so I have shape again. My stomach had become only a few inches less the other measurements. I was becoming an apple shape instead of an hourglass shape and we all know from research done that apple shaped people have a higher incidence of heart and diabetes problems.

 

Now I have to work on the exercise to help my body re-sculpt its shape as much as possible. I don't want to have a tummy tuck to remove excess skin if I don't have to. I hate having to recuperate from abdominal operations as they take so long.

 

116.8 kgs 2 September 2013

The weight was slow to go at the start of the week but I made sure that I started walking most days and today I was rewarded. I am now 116.8 kgs on my scales. I knew that it would be lower as on Saturday I brought a new skirt and it was a size 22 from Ballantynes. Their sizes are nearer to the older smaller 22. The only thing I could buy from them last year, and use, was a pair of togs. I always get a size smaller in togs as they stretch in the water.

For all those people who would say "Ew yuck. Some-one your size in a swimming pool and you don't even cover up?" I say "It is the best place to exercise when you are large.The water supports your body weight but you also have to push against it." This means less pain during and after the exercise and you can exercise for much longer. I am not worried about other people's sensibilities if they see a large person with rolls of fat in the pool. Wearing shorts and a t-shirt in a pool feels terrible and gets in your way.It is everyone's right to do what they enjoy doing. Those same people will be saying you are fat because you don't exercise. Nu-uh. I used to get hassled by people in cars (driving along not exercising themselves) when I would be going for a long strenuous walk or if I was cycling for the same reason. Hey, I am the one doing physical exercise not you. The same in most gyms.  The slim people would look down their noses at you because you didn't look pretty and might actually sweat (glow). Doing the amount of targeted exercise you had been given by a trained professional to help you tighten your muscles and become fitter is everyone's right. Double standards abound and you are "damned if you do and damned if you don't." What gives people the right to make that sort of comment. Usually when you look it is a slovenly b...... anyway. Enough of that rant.

I kept away from temptation this last week as I was knitting a blanket for my brother's birthday today. I finished it last night. At times I had to wear a wrist support as an old injury to a nerve in my hand flared up as well. It is done. I hope he likes it. I do. No more knitting of heavy things for a while though. A cousin has a new grandson so I will knit a 4 ply outfit for him. They live in Wellington so will need warmer outfits probably till Christmas anyway. My niece has invited us to her 30th birthday party on the 24th October and she has a Halloween fancy dress theme. I will have lost enough weight by then to fit into a 18-20 size outfit that I may have to make. It will be fun.

The other spare time I had was spent reading 2 Lara Adrian and 2 Kresley Cole books that are due back at the library. Other people are waiting for them so it meant a number of late nights reading when I could no longer knit. At least I got more drinking of water done. Our spring garden is starting to bloom with daffodils, freesias, anemones and snapdragons. A bumble bee was having a good nose around yesterday. Swallows were swooping around catching insects. Other birds were calling for mates and two ducks sat down on our lawn for a while till a SUV roared past a bit too close to them. I got my exercise hand watering the lot with some seaweed fertilizer that seems to really help the pot plants. It looks as though we might get feeds of strawberries this year instead of isolated tastes. Yay.

 

 

He chose blue as the colour he wanted and as they spent many years on lighthouses around NZ I thought the cable could be one that looked like waves rippling into shore. The multi-coloured wool looks like the multiple shades of blue and green that you see in the ocean, especially from above, looking down into the depths. It has kept me warm during the time I have been making it and I hope it keeps him warm for many years to come, and that his cats don't claw it too much.