as requested by a dear friend I have put up a comparison of me at my heaviest and where I am now…

ok I put it up but gave no info

red outfit probably spring 2004 or so… I must have been around 300 pounds I don’t remember.

the after shot.. friday night before going out with hubby  HALF of the woman in the other picture…

Tags: before and after, pictures

Ugh… this is a very very very hard post to make.  I don’t update this blog as often as I should but then there is a lot of stuff going on in my life that I don’t really want to put out on the web for all to see…. THIS is important.  This is a painful reminder that no matter what we say… life changes… we change… things change in our brains when we change things with our bodies…

So very hard to write this.. not even sure I want to put it out there for all to see… but I have to.   It’s therapeutic in so many ways and yet painful too…

Hard to put into words… I so thought I would not change when I lost weight…  I was so WRONG….   how could I not know I would change… WHY did I think I would be the same…  well partially because I thought I was OK the way I was.  What I’ve come to see is that I tried very hard NOT to step on toes…  I stuffed my feelings down… I stuffed them down so DEEP I didn’t even know I was stuffing them.

I guess in reality I didn’t KNOW the REAL me…  I’m a mean girl.   I go for the jugular… and I don’t mind admitting that it feels good to hurt someone who is not a true friend…  OMG I had no idea how much I would enjoy it…  I never did that before… Not at 300 pounds…  never.  I thought all the thoughts I’d even put them in words but I never had the guts to put them out there for the world to see.  I guess then I didn’t have the need to rid myself of people that were toxic like I do now.

Why don’t SMO women feel the need to nourish themselves emotionally?  Is it because we feed our faces instead of our hearts?

The problem is… I wrote stuff to ONE person but a bunch of folks read it  (which WAS my intent) and I ended up hurting a bunch of folks I CARE about…  and that doesn’t feel so good.

Neither does the fight I had with ONE of my very best friends which is what triggered all of this.   Now the question is why did I fight with her…   Well I felt stepped on.  and I’m tired of feeling stepped on and being told how to do things.  And I was feeling that she was telling me that my behavior was not something she could cope with and she was asking me to change my behavior…  Maybe she was,  maybe she was not…   What matters is that’s what I felt… like I was being told that  because I behave a certain way, she gets stressed… and my belief was,  “well then remove yourself from the stress”…  she would not… and I could not understand that so I did what I thought was best for both of us… I removed the stress from her. I ended a 7 year friendship…. I told her I was done.  I was a bit of a drama queen about it but that’s me…. and that’s part of the stress….  I thought it best for both of us… she won’t be stressed and I won’t be forced to compromise who I am.

Did not work too well for me….  I really hurt my friend by walking away from her… and her spouse… and that was NEVER my intent…  I hurt my husband… they are his friends too… I hurt other friends we share… I hurt myself…   and it brought me to this point… the point where I have to examine why I did it… what’s changed in me… why I no longer will grin and bear it and why before I thought I was strong and that I was happy and that I was able to take care of my needs and here I am having to admit I was not.  I mean I was strong and I was happy but I was not taking care of myself….  meanwhile we work to patch up the group and go back to loving each other… and it’s happening… I think we are all a bit more fragile now…

I love my friends… I do not care what they look like or how much they weigh… I had to think long and hard about this… I really did. I wondered was I now being that skinny bitch that only wanted skinny friends…  After all, it seems all my new friends are very thin… of course most of them are fairly new post op patients so why wouldn’t they be… and I tried very very hard to see if maybe I was becoming that person…. the person I didn’t want to be… the skinny bitch that no longer would associate with fat people… NOPE I’m not her…  But I got SCARED that I was that girl… that woman I didn’t want to be… the one who JUDGED folks based on size.   I don’t.  But I look at strangers differently now…. NOT my friends… my friends are just that my friends… and I love them…warts and all and they love me.  I don’t see them as fat or thin or black or white or gay or straight… I see them AS PEOPLE…  BUT as I alter my friendships with folks, (“re-establishing boundaries” as a friend of mine pointed out this morning) I can’t help but wonder if they see it as “see now she’s skinny so she doesn’t want to hang around fat people”….    and that’s NOT IT at all… but it sure looks like it at least from the outside looking in and at least to me at first glance…  and I worry  do I have to work doubly hard to not look like the skinny bitch who discriminates against fat folks….  HOW  HARD THIS IS….

I never had to think about it when I was fat.   I was nice to everyone.  I’m still nice to everyone… but things for me have changed…. PEOPLE HOLD DOORS FOR ME NOW….men and women… they didn’t do that when i was 300 pounds…  Men smile at me and talk to me… in public.. out of nowhere… again not done when I was 300 pounds…   NOW ME…

I talk to everyone..  I hold doors for everyone… I SMILE at everyone.  I still feel like that fat chick… so I look at the SMO women and I smile that “we are sisters smile”  only it comes out different now… It comes out as the “skinny bitch making fun of me look”…..  and it’s NOT… I want a sign that says  “formerly FAT CHICK” but since I can’t get one I find myself NOT MAKING EYE CONTACT with FAT people…   this makes me SAD.   That’s not what I want but I can’t bear the stares that tell me I’m no longer part of the club….

And to some extent I miss that club… it was safe… it was known… we knew who belonged with a glance…  I feel sometimes that I am floundering adrift in a sea of humanity…

So what’s changed… let’s go from the bottom up…

my feet:  smaller.. narrower… that alone scares me..

my body:  smaller… fitter under all the flab…. the skin has a mind of it’s own… the skin… oy the skin… it still defines me in my brain as fat… and yet sometimes I move it when I shower and I see that tiny TINY girl under the flab… I marvel at my fitness now… I walked for 45 minutes this morning… I only stopped because I had to go take my yoga class.  Yoga class where I can hold planks and down dogs and bridges… and do pigeons…  Yoga where I am strong and powerful… Yoga that I love…

my brain… ah that is the rub… has my brain changed or just how I deal with it… and what’s the difference….   I so wanted to prove that I could stay the same… and here I am having to admit I did not…

I mean I think I did… I think the same way…  I know that.. but how I act on it has changed…  I think now that I’m small… (see I wanted to say smaller… like I’m not SMALL… but I am a size 10 with 2 sizes worth of SKIN on me… so I’m probably a size 6 after plastic surgery… that’s SMALL)….  but i digress… now that I’m SMALL… I’m  even MORE flirtatious than I was at 300 pounds… and I was a hot flirt then… with anyone that would flirt with me.  Of course the realization is now that the only guys that looked at me were big guys…. or guys who had no sense of themselves… or guys that preferred fat girls (for whatever reason)… and I’ve learned that thin men react differently…. but I’ve been told I am different… more outgoing… I make eye contact..  and I realize it’s true… I SILENTLY  DARE men to flirt with me. This is something I never did at 300 pounds…  I look at them and EXPECT them to smile… and say hello… and they DO…  BUT what I’ve discovered is they do it when I’m NOT inviting it as well…..  a man held the door for me today at work and I didn’t even realize it I was too busy texting my hubby!

I’m not invisible now but I was at 300 pounds whether by design or happenstance I don’t know…  Maybe I would have had more attention had I dressed then the way I do now…

Yes I dress differently now… then I dressed for comfort…  occasionally we got dressed up… but I had to settle for what I could find that fit… and that covered.    Shoes, even dress shoes were FLATS..  pants were elastic waist more often than not… with over blouses to hide the tummy…..  there was no waist to show off… daily.. no make up… make up was for dressy events only….

NOW… heels, slacks or skirts… tucked in fitted shirts.. jackets or sweaters…  and MAKE UP daily and CONTACTS not glasses…   so yeah the wrapping is shiny now… so that’s different… and because that’s different I feel different and because I feel different I ACT different… I don’t THINK differently but I am different.  I’m still Nessa.  I’m not the “new and improved Nessa”  I’m still just me… and I still THINK the same…  but how I respond has changed… and I’m not sure how I feel about that….

Would I have had that fight with my friend if I was still 300 pounds… maybe… would my husband have backed me the way he did… I doubt it. He’s changed too… but I would have FELT the same way…  so what does that say…

oh well enough ranting and raving…

Tags: anger, boundaries, changed, fitness, Friends, mean girl, skin, skinny bitch, yoga

I NEVER EVER thought those words would apply to me.

What follows are the ramblings of a woman in shock…. for I am BELOW GOAL

It’s been a hellacious week for me… I have a mouth full of canker sores and I can barely eat or drink… there have been serious marital discord issues (and yes to SOME degree they are related to my weight loss..in that my husband thinks I’m the hottest thing on the planet and is so afraid i”m going to leave him he’s acting like a fool)….

so I can’t eat much… I’ve been drinking my protein and hot tea and trying to eat what  can….but I keep losing weight…

at 12 months out from surgery I weighed around 160.  I continued to weigh around 160 for the rest of September.  and ALL of October. I mean I got down to 158 here or there or 157.8  for a low early in October but then I would be 162.6 or 163 or back down to 160… so I said I weigh 160.  My doctor’s goal for me  was and is 169.  He does not like us to have lower than a BMI in the overweight range… so I had met my doctor’s goal at a year out easily….

My personal goal… 151. that would have had me losing 102 pounds from the date of surgery.  It seemed like a good weight.   I mean I weighed 145 when I was 21 and getting married and even then I thought I was fat… I’m short so 145 is still technically overweight (by 4 pounds)….. but at 50 I can’t see wanting to be stick thin…. I never was stick thin.  I was never tiny… at least I never considered myself TINY…  I always thought of myself as big bosoms (well they are gone totally now) and big hipped…  GUESS WHAT… I”m not.  I am TINY.. I keep being told I’m tiny.  By my husband,  by my friends who knew me before I had surgery… and by NEW friends who ONLY know me thin… that’s the biggest shock… FOLKS who only know me as thin Nessa see me as TINY…. WOW…

but I digress…  so here I am at about 160… thinking  OK I’m done.  I made an appointment with the plastic surgeon… I see him next week for a consult (no I’m not scheduling surgery just yet… just want an idea of cost and  how much more weight he thinks the panniulectomy would remove and I have a lot of sub-c fat)….  I’m 160  I’ll never see my goal of 151 but THAT’S OK cause I’m healthy.  My blood pressure is normal, my blood sugar is normal.  My cholesterol is NORMAL… I can bend I can move I can shop Anywhere but Lane Bryant…  instead of ONLY at Lane Bryant….  and I’m OK with where I am.  My hubby still has about 30-40 pounds to go to get to goal and he’s struggling so I am not going to whine about 9  pounds… right?

All through November I see 159 or 158 now and then…. I hit a new low of 157.4 on the 27.  I say… oh well I couldn’t eat much due to severe belly pain.  In fact, thanksgiving sucked… I could not eat… I had belly pain for about 4 days…  but since that date I have not seen 160 except for ONE day…  and i keep hanging around 159… done right?

WRONG…   I went to PA for an overnight trip on the 10th of December.   This was a pivotal day for me… I drank.  A LOT…  I was at a friends house and I was not driving and he was OK with the possibility that it would affect me oddly… so after dinner I had 2 large drinks over the course of several hours…   Next morning I got up and drove home feeling good… even stopped for my Starbucks  coffee….

I get home and go to grab a shower and as is my habit I hop on the scale… 154.8  WHAT??  154.8… down 3.2 pounds???   I even logged a note that says  “artificial low after PA trip”….   the next day I’m up but only to 155.4… WHAT???  then I go back up to 156.4 and I’m like… yeah OK I’m going back up to where I should be…. but then NO…. the next day back down to 154.6  A NEW LOW… “WTF?” I ask myself

I haven’t changed anything… I’m not exercising more… if anything I’m skipping yoga and walking now and then… just not fitting in as much as I need it to this time of year… and I keep going…  net day I’m back up 156.4, then 157….. then 156 then 156… then BANG… 152.4   NEW low.
logged as “artificial low after being sick”  I can’t even manage to enjoy this weight loss because I do not feel like I’ve earned it…

anyway I go up the next day and the next day…. then my 15 month surgiversary I weigh 153.4 so I’m down about 7  pounds from where i thought I was done…  and I’m OK with it… I am.  My goal was 151…

the next day… I’m BELOW goal… I’m 150.8… I have no joy.  It’s not earned. or deserved… I’m not following the rules… I eat carbs… I eat sugar.. I eat bread and pasta and chocolate… I’m a bad girl the only reason I’m below goal is that I can’t EAT right now with my mouth full of sores and my belly twisted in knots due to fighting with my hubby….

so yesterday I tried to eat… some chili… some pretzels a couple of cookies… always my protein drink for breakfast…  some soup for dinner… but even if my mouth can tolerate it… from not eating for a few days.. Oscar the pouch is now about 2 oz worth of room… so very little goes in me….

this morning I get on the scale… I weigh 149.6.  my size 10 jeans actually fit the way they should now instead of making a muffin top of my skin…. I see a big difference between 155 and 149…  5 pounds at this size does make a huge difference….I always thought that below 150  I would look too thing… and yes my face is drawn and my collar bones clearly defined… but I’m not too thin… not really… the difference in the skin at 150 vs 155 is noticeable… more skin less sub-c fat… I’m not even sure where this weight is coming off from now… but I’ve lost 7 pounds this week….  not bad for 15 months out and at goal…

so now I’m “below goal”… of course I am now revising the goal…..  I don’t know now what my goal is… but I know that I like where i am right now… so maybe 5 more pounds???

I think I’m becoming a card carrying member of the “how low can you go” club….

Tags: goal weight, weight loss

Ok since today is a bathroom fashion show I guess we shall talk about something else as well.

but first… here is my bathroom fashion show for the day:

1. the jacket is an 8 an EIGHT for gods sake… I feel really good in this outfit btw:

Ok so now let’s talk about my body image.   In clothes I don’t look too bad, especially if I stand up straight and suck in my belly…  and wear good foundation garments.. and don’t try to pretend that I can cram this belly into size 10 jeans.  Naked… now that’s another story…  I hate my body naked.     For several reasons.  I don’t care about scars or  stretch marks, those are battle scars earned by years of living and well deserved.  What I hate are

my deflated hanging remnants of breasts

my belly

my thighs (and therefore my knees),

my back and hips.

OH and my thin hair.

That’s a lot of hate…  so maybe I need to balance it with what I like:

from the top down I LIKE:

my curls and color

my eyes

my nose is not bad

my mouth is good and i love my smile

my ears… they are small and flat against my head

my shoulders. I LIKE THEM… they are round but not flabby… they are defined.

I have collar bones! I like them

I like my biceps

I like my wrists

I like my calves

I like my ankles.

so basically from the armpits to the knees I want to replace.  That’s a lot of replacing.   And based on what I’m hearing NONE of it is going to be covered by insurance.  So now I have to figure out how to pay for it.  not sure what to think.. I guess a few more doctors are called for. I have an appointment on December 28th for a consult.    At least i can get an idea of what it’s going to cost and how much more weight he thinks this will take off of me.

Tags: bathroom fashion show, body image, plastic surgery

so it’s been forever since I  wrote.  My Bad as the kids say.  Life is busy.  Kids are good. I’m ok… hanging in

weight at 14 months out is about 160 so i’m as done as I’m going to be based on how i choose to eat…

I did go shopping this weekend and got a ton of new clothes so now we do fashion show for a bit:

gray slacks and a purple top.. hard to tell eh?

more randomness….

here are the kids from last night… taken with my cell phone

so i guess this is the current fav picture of them… Matt’s using it as his avatar on facebook!

My hubby bless his heart is feeling left out… no clue why I love him more than ever… and I think I’ve spent time with him but maybe not…  hard to see your own life when you are living it….    I think that’s why I enjoy having the kids around so much… I can WATCH them learn to be a couple.  I can WATCH them fall in love… and be in love… and it’s darling… they are so good together…

the gym was good today… one of the trainers winked at me as I ran laps… LOL…  yoga was good too.  I love yoga.

my weight is up a bit but I’m sure it’s water weight, I ate a lot yesterday… including popcorn… and chinese food for lunch…

well that’s all for now.

Tags: crystal, family, kids, matt, pictures

Just feeling like I should post something.

Life has changed in so many ways

Brian is FIVE POUNDS from losing 200 pounds.  He was 282 this morning.. so he wants to go back to the gym.  I think his plan is to come back on the 15th but I plan to go with Matt.  I like working out with him.   He makes me RUN and that feels GOOD and it’s good for me… I don’t lift with him but I bet Bri will and that’s good for both of them!

Brian’s happy

I’m HAPPY

my daughter is happy

and we have Matt now.    he seems happy too!

so where do we go from here?  up and out I guess.

Moving him in to our house might seem weird and strange and unusual and it is even to me… BUT we seem to be finding our way as a non-traditional family.  He loves my daughter. My daughter loves him.  May they live long and love long… and stay happy….   Brian and I while stressing do like having him in our home.

And living the way we do, while suspect and odd, works for us.

and we are eating great.  THIS KID CAN COOK and he works hard to learn to make healthy stuff!

and the house is clean

and the best thing.. my daughter smiles and laughs… and she’s growing and maturing daily.

It’s on my mind a lot that they are playing house under our very noses and we not only indulge it we encourage it.  But it seems to be working…

where do we go from here?  I do not know…one day at a time…

Tags: brian, randomness, weight loss

I know why I love him… he cooks, he cleans, he’s funny and obviously he’s FUN

this is MATT (see previous post) in my husband’s halloween wig and my dog’s  reindeer antler headband and my sunglasses

C for Cougar!

I think it’s funny in a weird sort of way that my daughter’s BF Matt

This is my favorite picture of them right now... they were just having fun and her smile is so true and natural..

said I look like a cougar in this skirt.     Now I’m going to trust Matt’s opinion because at 22 wouldn’t he know???

again it’s a bathroom fashion show  so the quality is not great, but here we go:

Tags: cougar fashion