OUR Commitments

Ryan, my husband, has gotten pretty involved in my blog and is going to be such a huge part of my weight-loss journey. He's the one who is going to be with me every step of the way, so we sat down and talked about some of the changes we're going to have to make to our life. The first thing we talked about was exercise. I've been walking, by myself, 3 days a week around my neighborhood, but it's definitely time to start pushing myself. We have a track about a 2-minute drive away and it would be much easier to track the distance and my progress there. So this is what we came up with for our PRE-OP EXERCISE COMMITMENT:

         Days: SUNDAY, MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY!
         Distance: 1.5 miles (June 27th- July 11th)
                        2.0 miles (July 11th- surgery day)

After the surgery I'll ease back into my exercise routine EXACTLY how my doctor directs me. We'd both like to work our way up to running, so we'll definitely come up with a plan to get us there after the surgery.

We also came up with a list of other GOALS & COMMITMENTS:

• Drink water instead of snacking of unhealthy foods
• Marathon cooking on Sundays (that way there's no excuse to go to a drive-thru
•  cut out "seconds"- only serve ourselves the proper portion at the beginning meal and put the leftovers away before we get tempted to go back for more
• Good-bye COLD STONE! We love ice cream, but those are just empty calories, so we'll stick to fruit or sugar-free popsicle. I'm even trying out some new recipes for homemade popsicles that I could add my protein powder to.
• Don't eat out more than once a week.
• Portion Control
• sticking to our exercise commitment
• planning out our meals for 2 weeks at a time- this will keep us from being tempted to eat takeout or drive-thru

The Numbers

So although I don't have my surgery officially scheduled yet we are projecting that it will most likely be at the end of July. I have my last nutrition consult on July 9th and after that we'll have a better idea of when to schedule the main event.

To make this blog a good tool I realized that I need to post my "before" pictures and my beginning stats. This will be the easiest way to track my weight loss & be accountable to myself.

Pictures: taken by my husband RYAN
Measurements: taken by my lovely co-worker NICHOLE. Don't worry, we work in bridal so
                        we know how to measure properly!
Weight:taken by me in my bathroom by myself. I think that the morning before surgery I
            am going to do a video weigh in and continue to do video weigh ins once a month
            after the surgery.


MEASUREMENTS:

• Bust: 56
• Waist: 46.5
• Hips: 60

WEIGHT:   297lb. (My weight as of May 25th was 304lb. That was the day on my Upper GI.)

TRIUMPH!!!!

I just wanted to take a minute to share some small triumphs that I've had this week:

1. As of today it has been 9 entire days since I have had any bridal panic chocolate and I
    am averaging 2 bottles of water( just over one pint each) more than I used to. So by
    replacing an unhealthy habit with a healthy one I am drinking 1 liter more water than I
    used to in a day. So a goal I'm making for myself this weekis to make sure I'm meeting
    the suggested daily water intake for my gender and age group. I found a really great
    article about it on the livestrong website:
         http://www.livestrong.com/article/355482-usda-recommended-daily-water-intake/

2. My garden is growing! All those seedlings have sprouted faster than I had anticipated so I am very excited to show everyone that I don't have a black thumb afterall.

Now for something I haven't been successful with this week:

                                       WALKING!



I haven't gone on a single walk this week yet, but if I walk the next 3 days in a row I can still meet my goal. Wish me luck!  Maybe I just need to take my ipod and make a really awesome playlist?

My SPECIAL Plate

   I came to the realization a few days ago that I was developing a negative attitude toward portion control. At first I thought it was the smaller portions leaving me hungry, but I listened to my body and that clearly wasn't the problem. My body was feeling content with the smaller portions! Then I looked over at my husband's plate and realized something: my plate looked small and pathetic compared to his. I had all this empty space on my plate and my subconscious was starting to realize it too. So in an attempt to nip this in the bud I bought myself a "special plate" (that's literally what I call it at home).

To the left you see the plates that I used to eat on & on the right is my "special plate". Big difference, huh? I am also a firm believer that if the plate and food have a better presentation then the experience of eating the food will be enjoyable too, which came in handy as I was introducing more veggies into my daily diet.

To illustrate the difference, I took this morning's breakfast and showed you the before and after on both plates. So the picture above is what 2 hard-boiled eggs and a slice of wheat toast looks like on the plate I used to eat from. Pretty sad!

Okay... so here is what the same meal looks like on my "special plate". See how your brain can be more visually satisfied looking at this plate instead? Now, there's one more thing I want to address: What do you do when your smaller amount of bites are all gone, but your hand goes to grab for more? This kept happening to me and I kept wondering, "Is my hand grabbing for more because I'm hungry or because it's what it is trained to do?" Again I listened to my stomach and realized it wasn't because I was hungry. It literally had just become accustomed to always grabbing for more. So here is how I tackled this issue:

I cut or slice everything up before I sit down to eat it. The repetitive hand motion makes the eating process last longer than it probably would if everything weren't cut up. For example, with this morning's breakfast I sliced up my eggs in an egg slicer (which I use to cut up strawberries, pears,etc.) and turned 4 or 5 bites into 10 bites. I know it seems really silly but it truely is working for me, and I know if I have this concern other people will too. Another good point I want to mention is that this has also helped me prepare for post-surgery life as well. Everyone has told me that after I have the surgery I will HAVE TO CHEW CHEW CHEW! I am trying to start getting into the habit of chewing all of my food really well, so cutting things up has been a good visual reminder to practice my good chewing skills.

So here's my really full plate that made me perfectly content this morning.

HEALTHY EATING!

Beating Laziness

   If I lost a pound every time "not now" became "never" I wouldn't need to be having this surgery. Unfortunately I'm never going to lose weight being a couch potato, so here's the reality that I've had to come to terms with:

                                 I'm a pretty lazy person at home.

I always have a plan to get things done, but instead tell myself "I deserve a break" or "I work later today so I'm going to relax for a bit before I go in". I'm pretty sure this is part of the reason I have put on the weight. I would definitely say that I am in no way, shape or form an ACTIVE person, so I know that needs to change if I'm going to make this lifestyle change work. The key here is to stop putting things off...which means my committment to being active needs to start BEFORE SURGERY. I have started an exercise regimen of walking 3 days a week (minimum), but I'm going to save that for another blog entry. Today I want to focus on activity in general.

I think it's very important to remember that exercising 30 minutes a day doesn't necessarily mean you're an active person. I could easily go home after my walk, sit on the couch, and watch tv for hours but I'd be cheating myself out of my own time. I don't know about you guys, but I get pissed when other people waste my time, so WHY SHOULD I WASTE MY OWN TIME ? I think that you need to be mentally active and physically active throughout your day. One thing I've started doing is reading for pleasure & writing this blog. However, my favorite new activity is.... GARDENING!!!

I've started doing a lot more gardening and yard work because it has kept me off of the couch. When I'm gardeing I'm getting fresh air, relaxing, moving around, thinking, etc...I'm not staring at a tv trying to keep up with the Kardashians. I've gotten so into it that I not have to beginings to a beautiful herb and vegetable garden. Right now they are little pellets of seeds but they should be sprouting up any day now!

I have 2 planters of these on the deck now. So pretty!

So I guess what I'm trying to encourage everyone to do is to find some hobbies that get you outside or get you active, in addition to exercise. The more you do the more accomplished and productive you feel.

                     "An active mind cannot exist in an inactive body."
                                         ~General George S. Patton

Bridal Panic Chocolate!

Everyone has that hidden drawer at their desk or in the glove compartment of their cars. It's that special place that you leave those special treats for when you hit the 3 o'clock WALL! However, for me that hiden place isn't so hidden. In fact it is right in front of me for about 40% of my work day...sometimes even longer:

                                                 BRIDAL PANIC CHOCOLATE

This is the chocolate meant to ease a bride's wallet pain when she makes a payment, celebrates the fact she just said "yes to the dress", or congratulates herself for being able to squeeze into her dress after ordering a size too small.It's also where I go ease my boredom when a bride is running late, reward myself for selling a wedding gown and discuss with co-workers what we'd like to change about our bodies. My head tells me, "One isn't going to hurt", but before I know it I've eaten 2...3...4...10. Maybe not 10, but you get the idea. I eat more than I should be!

Today it occured to me that I need to have access to an alternative on hand. I thought about some different options(mints, pretzels, gum, nuts) but it occured to me that the BEST thing for me to have on hand is ...WATER! So today I tried my theory out and I drank some water every time I wanted to grab for a piece of chocolate. In the end I drank 2 whole bottles of water. That is 2 more bottles of water than I would have drank any other day!!!!!! Not only did I stay away from unnecessary/unwanted calories, but I gave my body something it needs on a daily basis. I MADE THE CHOICE TO BE HEALTHY. For someone like me that is a huge step.

TRIUMPH!

Where do you begin?

   I honestly didn't know where to start when I began thinking about weight-loss surgery, so I have put together 4 very important areas that are going to help you prepare for this life-changing decision and keep you emotionally invested:

• Pick your doctor carefully! I personally had consults with three doctors. They were all more than qualified, but I selected the doctor who really listened to my concerns and helped me make the best surgical decision based on those concerns. It is also important to feel comfortable asking questions of your doctor. If he or she makes you feel dumb or stupid for asking questions, that person does NOT need to be operating on you.
• Do your research! I know those packets of information your doctor handed you seem a little bit over the top but, trust me, they are going to be a very useful tool. Reading them will go into more detail about what to expect and raise some very valid questions to ask your doctor during your next visit. They'll also help you educate those around you who haven't heard of THE SLEEVE. That's one of the reasons I'm starting this blog. I haven't found any blogs about people chronicling their weight loss experience with the sleeve and I think it allows you to do your own research and see it from the perspective of someone experiencing it.
• Ask questions! No question is too stupid or dumb to be asked. It's just like they tell you in high school and college, "If you have a question, ASK IT! Chances are someone else has that same question." They just don't have the balls to ask it....so grow a pair and ask it yourself.
• Get a support system in place! Most of the doctors just told me "Make sure you have someone available to help you for a few days." To me that is very different than telling someone they need a support system. For me it was important to have a group of people to depend on for much longer than the post-op recovery process. I need people who are going to make sure I'm making healthy choices and who are going to join me on my journey to a healthier me.

                                         MEET MY SUPPORT SYSTEM

My mom and dad

My husband, Ryan

Journey to Weight Gain...in pictures

Baby Ashley at 1 year-old

Kindergarten...still haven't lost that baby fat

High School

Our Honeymoon



As you can see I've always been overweight and I thought that you all might enjoy seeing some pictures. For me blogs are always more fun to read with pictures to go along with them.

Every happy ending needs a beginning...

   As the title says "Every happy ending needs a beginning", and mine begins with a little girl who spent her life eating her feelings. I'd love to sit here and say that I just have issues with portion control but I would be lying to you. Ever since I was a toddler I have been an emotional eater. My Grandma and mom were always telling me stories about how I would hide entire blocks of cheese around the house and save them for later. Although they seem like funny stories from my childhood they are the root of my weight gain. I have NEVER experienced what it is like to be of an average weight and size. For as long as I can remember I've always been a chunky monkey, and recently I've come to realize that I cannot be so accepting of this.


   This past October I married an amazing man, my husband Ryan, who loves me just the way I am. As we began pondering the future we both realized that we need to get healthy, me especially because I'll be the one growing little humans inside me when we decide to start a family. I've tried several diets over the years, haven't had any success and did a lot of research about surgical options. In the end I have decided to go with the SLEEVE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl1w8bxItT0)and I wanted to do this blog for other people considering the surgery. I haven't been fortunate enough to find any yet, so I thought I'd be the first.

I'll cover preparing for the surgery, recovering, tracking my weight-loss journey, emotional developments, everyday life, recipes....everything good and bad on my way to being a healthier me.