We have a sick girlie on our hands here at Casa Dunne. She woke up about 2:15 in the morning completely full of cold, bless her.
Andrew and I both did a half day at our respective offices and kept MC at home for a day of rest. She's done really well and has probably watched more television today than ever before in her five years!
We are so lucky because she is such a healthy little girl and rarely ever ill. It's great, but when she does get sick it freaks us out a little. Today was her first sick day off from school in two years! Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy that she's rarely ill.
It's taken her a bit by surprise as well and she keeps repeating to herself, 'I'm sick and I couldn't go to school today' under her breath. It's very amusing.
Fortunately, barring any additional sick in the middle of the night episodes tonight, she'll be going back to school tomorrow. She's definitely better, thankfully.
Thank you all for your very, very kind comments on the last 'Life Post WLS' post. I'm flattered.
Teresa asked: What diets did you try before, what lead you to take such drastic action and would you do it again?
Also....how does one go about getting it done?
I think my first major diet was during my later college years, when I tried Jenny Craig. I'd seen others have great results and I liked that you bought most of your food from them, leaving me out of the decision process as much as possible. I think I lost about 30lbs on Jenny the first time and about the same when I tried it again a few years later. (There is a reason that you get to be a lifetime member, in my opinion, so that you can go back for the yo-yo process)
The minute I stopped eating their food and tried to bring some choice back into my diet.. Uh, I failed.
Then I tried the evil Phen/Fen combo and I liked how much work it helped me do - stimulants will do that to you, I could feel my hair growing, it was cool! I wasn't hungry a lot and I think I lost a bit on it, but I got scared at the bad press it was getting and stopped taking it after a few months.
I tried Xenical when I first moved to the UK. That's the drug that makes you poop if you eat high fat. To a certain extent, I have a built in version of that now as I can't tolerate high fat foods very well and often have the same result. I didn't lose very much on Xenical at all.
Then I tried Reductil about three years ago. I'd say that it was probably the best thing I tried and I lost just over 50lbs using it over the course of a year. Reductil helps people to lose weight by increasing the amount of noradrenaline and serotonin allowed to work in your brain which makes you feel full and satisfied after eating less.
The only thing about Reductil is that it only works for about a year and then it starts to not work as well as your body figures out what's going on. So I gained those 50lbs back, sadly, over the course of the next year.
That's when I started thinking about weight loss surgery and went to speak to my GP about it. She referred me to a surgeon, he and I decided that I would want the Roux En Y Gastric Bypass and I then started the long process of having it done. There were a LOT of hoops to jump through and it took me about nine months to get through them all.
Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. I had a very easy recovery and yes, I've been sick a few times from not chewing well and I've been sicker from eating things I shouldn't - but that's part of the bargain. It's been almost a year since I had it done and I see the surgery as a tool I've been given, but not the only factor in why I've lost the weight.
I still have to watch what I eat, when I eat it and I exercise a lot. You still have to find your own motivation to exercise and now that I can eat more than back in the beginning I have to police my diet, just like anyone else watching their weight.
So - more questions? Tomorrow, I think I'll talk about the down side of having surgery and my biggest pet peeve that I like to call 'The Look'.
Dear Annoying Man Sitting Next to Me on the Train, Why is it that you feel the need to bash my arm with your newspaper every five seconds? It's pretty rude in the first place to think that you can comfortably read a huge newspaper in such a small space to begin with.
Now, I know you might be thinking that I, being a larger person, was taking up more of our shared seat than I should've been. But I wasn't. I know because I checked. And yet, bash, flip, bash went your newspaper.
Seriously, cut it out. I don't care who you are - get your fricking paper off me - or next time I'll think about doing more than write a silly passive agressive letter to the internet.
I don't ever really write a lot about my life as a post weight loss surgery (WLS) person... Over the next few days I think I will write more about it. I get a few emails from random people asking me about it, so hey - why not bore the rest of the population?
I do write about my success, which is fun. And yes, I am fully aware that my favourite hobby is taking pictures of myself. But I totally don't care if everyone thinks I'm weird for doing so - I haven't been this size since high school and make no apologies for celebrating that. Plus, while the pictures are 90% 'ooh, girl, look at me!' they're also my way of trying to figure out just how exactly I look.
See - I've been looking at pictures of me from way back in the way back, at my heaviest. I look at them now and think some pretty yucky thoughts (along the lines of 'how could I have had friends...' and 'what in the world did he see in me at THAT size') which I NEVER EVER thought to myself when I was that big. Heck, I didn't even know that I looked so big and (to my current state of mind) horrible.
So - if there was ever anything about my surgery, life then or life now that you wanted to know ... post me a comment or drop me a mail and I'll answer over the next few posts. I'm an open book and you're welcome to ask anything.
Today's annoyance - Special K cereal.. healthy breakfast choice, right? Ugh, I had a small bowl and it's not the first time I've had it. I'm pissed off at myself because I feel like crap now and I knew it made me sick in the past. Am I sick now? Yes. Dumping on the carb-liciousness of Special K. I just hate that I feel this way after breakfast cereal ... I mean, for this nausea, I should've at least have had something really good, like ice cream!
Dudes... It's official. Today I weighed and I'm officially down 107lbs. I still have a bit to go to get to goal, but .. but! BUT. I now weigh less than Andrew.
Yes, I know he's a man.. and yes, I know that he's nine inches taller than I am. But still... I've never weighed less than anyone I've been out with - like, ever.
Gosh, now that I'm the dinky one in the relationship - what to do! How totally funny and a very new feeling. Next thing you know I'll be asking for piggy back rides and doing all those things that thin girls do. Okay - maybe not!
Sickness update: I'm still completely ill. Pity me but feel Andrew's pain because he has to put up with me!
Seriously, how do people who stay at home during the day handle the crappiest of crap daytime telly? Jeremy Kyle? Ads for ringtones and the National Accident Helpline? Damn. Just in case you didn't know, you can give money to help children, dogs and the aged. Oh and if you need a loan - I think I have a few numbers here that you can call.
Do you think they run all of those to make you actually want to go out to work?! I'm going back to sleep. posted by Elizabeth @ 9.5.08 |
It's weird, normally I just suck it up, take some over the counter cold medicine and get on with things. Mainly, because it makes me feel superior when Andrew gets sick and falls apart. See, I like making jokes about man flu. I think it's funny.
But this time - I am not holding it together very well at all. I feel so rotten that I actually think I could cry at any moment. How weird is that? I'm not sure if I'm going to work yet tomorrow or not. i was joking to everyone yesterday that I was coming down with a man cold - and kapow - I actually am!
Ugh. I'm awake because lying down means I can't breathe and I just haven't mastered sleeping sitting up. Okay - I'll spare you the whinging, but uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh.
I haven't given you an update on our ever so cheap and wonderful little red car... It's still running like a dream!
Of course, the fact that hot weather has gripped London for the past week means that the car's lack of AC is an issue (a big sweaty issue)... and yesterday Andrew had to restick a bit of trim back onto one of the doors.
Which he did, of course, with packing tape.
Oh and we've lost one hubcap - so I have to say ... I think the car is actually worse off now that it's living with us than before we bought it! How can that be?
Well - apparently I have good form for my serve and have been recommended to always stick with a two handed backhand, instead of a one handed swing. When I try to do backhand with only one hand I look and feel rather out of control. Maybe one of these months.
After tennis I met up with A and MC and we hit Spitalfields market. The refurb is complete and the big market area is finally open again. It's absolutely lovely there now, with loads of natural light and it feels very bright and open. I do also think that it's not 100% full at the moment and if it gets back up to mega-capacity again, it might not be so nice.
We then did a tour of duty through Waitrose for our weekly shop. We didn't have any interest in posh cheese this time, instead opted for a nice sharp block of cheddar. Sometimes I think you have to stick to the basics.
Tomorrow the plan is to hit the bikes for a good few hours.
OH, I totally forgot ... we bought some camping equipment today. All very exciting stuff. Wonder how long it will take us to pitch the tent the first time - that's usually a marriage tester for a lot of couples! posted by Elizabeth @ 4.5.08 |
Ahh.. it's a Bank Holiday weekend.. Not much to do but sit around and think about how we don't have to go to work on Monday.
My kind of weekend.
Tomorrow is my second tennis lesson - wonder if I'll be any better at it! My legs took a real beating last week, I was sore for about three days after. I'm built for comfort, not for speed - so to run around, stopping and starting, all while trying to actually hit something flying towards me really put me through my paces. I don't normally run.
Not even if something behind me was on fire, know what I mean?
So - no plans ahead... it's a gorgeous day outside, though. Maybe we'll go out on the bikes as it's been so long since we've done that.
We're getting excited for our new pursuit of camping. I think our first weekend away will be in early June - seriously, I can not wait! Mary Catherine is also super keen and we often talk about what it will be like. She definitely wants to roast marshmellows over a fire, but is incredibly adverse to making a hot dog the same way. She says she'd like to take an oven so we can make 'proper food'.
Because who just can't love lyrics like.. "Baby if you strip, you can get a tip 'Cause I like you just the way you are (I'm about to strip and I want it quick Can you handle me the way I are?)"
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