3 Years Today - and That's a Wrap, Folks!

Well, today is the 3 year anniversary of my weight loss surgery. I hover around 163 give or take 2 pounds, and I'm happy. I wear a Size 8 when I'm lucky, and a Size 10 the rest of the time. I feel great, I eat to hunger and so long as I avoid sugar and do my exercise (Bikram Yoga is my exercise of choice) I maintain my weight easily.

My band is just right - I run into problems maybe once or twice a month, which let's me know it's still working :) The rest of the time I eat smaller portions than 'normal' folks but by no means is it ridiculously small. Breakfast may be 1 egg with 1 piece of toast; lunch is 1 oz of cheese, 5 crackers and some nuts; dinner is 3-4 oz. of fish and some veggies and maybe a baby potato. I snack here and there.

Life is good, and I love my band and am happy I had weight loss surgery!!! Now, on with life. I teach Bikram Yoga which I love and am so happy I found it - the first exercise I could love. It keeps me honest and I love that about it. I'm wrapping up this blog here with this post. However, I have others on here where you can keep up with me. I am also on facebook (jenn steff) if you ever have lapband questions!

Thanks all for your love, support and for reading :)
Jenn

Now I look at this and think, "Who is she???"....

Eating When Sick

After being sick since Monday, I finally thought a trip to the doctor was in order. Based on my symptoms, he called it out as Walking Pneumonia. It sounds more dramatic than it is - 3 days of antibiotics, an inhaler to help with the hacking cough, supplemented with dayquil/nightquil and advil....and rest, rest, rest.

I'm fortunate to have no intestinal distress, stomach issues or nausea. So that means I can effectively eat normally; however, when I am sick, I tend to want carbs. Not copious amounts, or inappropriate ones, but more than I'd usually want. So last night I made chicken noodle soup from scratch; today, I got some Tom Yum Gui while I waited for my RX but actually accepted the white rice...and so on. But my weight seems about the same (for this time of the month), and I'm not pigging out - it's just different. But it's ok, I'm not eating McDonald's or cupcakes; just finding I need (or want? or both...) a little more "white carbs" than normal.

Anyway, here's to wellness! And soon!

Jenn Goes to Bikram Yoga Teacher Training!

Hello! Well about two weeks ago, I made a big decision. I wanted to share it with my closest friends and family first, as well as a few clients who will be impacted by this...I am going to go to Bikram Yoga Teacher Training!

Now, for those of you who don't know much about this, it's basically Yoga Boot Camp. You are removed from normal life for 9 weeks, and while there, you are in session from 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. (minimum) Monday - Friday, including two 90-minute hot yoga classes a day, lectures on everything from yoga history to anatomy to voice projection to how to run a studio; and then of course, memorizing the 90-minute Bikram dialogue verbatim, and being testing on it and your own understanding/performance of each posture. Saturday, you have one class at 8 a.m. and then you are "free" (to study, practice and study, and study...) the rest of Saturday, and all of Sunday.

Because this blog is really dedicated (though at times I'm sure it hasn't been clear...) to my weight loss, weight loss surgery, food struggles, diet, etc. I decided to create a separate Bikram teacher training blog. You can access it here:

http://yogabootcamp.blogspot.com/

On the She Shrinks blog, I will continue to post and talk about my experience but from the weight loss angle - struggles with eating, exercising this much and the impact on my body, successes and challenges that are relevant to the WLS community. That said, I hope some of you, my WLS peeps, will follow me as I go to training!

It takes place in Acapulco, Mexico, and I leave on April 5, returning on June 8. The blog has a handful of posts up about preparation, so if you're interested, check it out!

Ok, She Bravely Posts....

Now, I could pick out everything wrong with my body....but instead, I'm gonna say "WOW!" and be happy with how far I've come!

A little bit of yoga on the beach, not perfect - now this posture I would love to pick apart, and you yogi people can see all of the corrections I need...in my defense, I was not in 105 degrees, and I was balancing on a bed frame! :)

In Striking Contrast to That Last Post...

Oh dear. Cabo was not good to me. Well, I lie. It was fantastic! But oh, the calories, the laying around, the gluttony...boy, it was fun! Still, the scale read out was abysmal and will not be posted here until I go to task on some serious clean-up. Shouldn't take too long, but as usual, I am stunned at my body's ability to pack on so much weight so fast! Crazy, but a good reminder. (And not to worry, it was no where near the 17 pounds I packed on last summer when I went to Europe lap-bandless).

I am going to put up a better picture of me in the 2-piece soon (by better, I mean without Jill's thumb in the corner). It's a right of passage, I think, to bravely post the 2-piecer photo. No, I'm not a Baywatch chick, but for my age and history, I have to say, I paraded around happily as a clam in my suit(s) and had only the typical girl worries (like...is my boob falling out?) :)

100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just wanted to report the good news. After 2 and a half years, a few setbacks and a stubborn body at times...having started at 262 pounds, today I broke the 100-pound mark weighing in at 161.2! Yay, me! Not too far to go now....

Nice Weigh-In Today!



That's 99.8 pounds lost. I thought about grabbing scissors and chopping off my hair to get there...and yes, of course I tried to pee (again) and even made an attempt at a #2....but no luck.

So, maybe in the next few days. I'm weighing every other day now; I couldn't stay focused just yet with 1x/week, so Jill suggested every other day and see how that goes for me - and that has been more reasonable. I'm also practicing not freaking out when the number is unappealing. Anyhow, Tuesday is my 'official' day, so I'm posting the results!

Only .2 pounds to go to the big 100 pound mark; and .5 more BMI to no longer be "overweight"!!!. By the way, I've NEVER seen a number this low on the scale in any memory I have. I remember 135 in 5th grade (!!!!) and then 180's in junior high/high school. So, today was very exciting! :)