Just blowing off some steam tonight. No particular motivation or relevance. Just have been wanting to make a "bucket list" of sorts and hopefully this time next year I can look back on all I've crossed off. In five years I hope I'll need to write a new list ;-)
1. Specialty.
2. House.
3. A Child/Children.
4. Soul Mate.
5. Passport.
6. Trip to Ireland.
7. European cruise.
8. Publish a novel.
9. A will/living will.
10. No debt. (including student loans)
11. Lasik surgery.
12. Breast enhancement.
13. Trip to London.
14. Trip to Paris.
15. Cross country train ride.
16. A1A roadtrip.
17. Participate in one marathon.
18. Own/be an active partner in a small business.
19. Move out of Florida.
20. See Hawaii.
21. Reach/maintain a size 14.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Tomato Soup, Walking, and Hair Loss
First off I would like to apologize for not posting at least once in October. I was not in a proper state of mind. For the entire month I lost a grand total of 9lbs and held at that weight or a pound variance for probably 3 weeks. Last week I did have a breakthrough, from sticking to my exercise regimen and my diet, not getting discouraged. My current weight is 278 and if you haven't been keeping track, that is 99lbs total. This has been a hard fought 11lbs down and I will continue to endeavor until I reach Onderland.
That leads me to the first topic, my diet. I know I have friends and family trying to help but you really aren't. If following advice of everyone led to weight loss I would be a svelt 99lb waif from all the advice I've taken in, listened to, or dismissed over the years. Please refer to previous posts if you are reading this and somehow know me without being aware, as the Lady Gaga song goes: I was born this way! Not to say I don't have love for all my cheerleaders, that will never change. I only mean to say that this is my journey and the one voice I haven't listened to in all these years is my own inner voice. This is the only voice I am ultimately listening to now. She knows me best after all ;-)
So what is my diet? My diet is everything/anything I want to eat. I can eat literally anything 6 months (-10 days) post op. That's what makes it challenging. It is up to me to make those choices on what is best. What is best for me, is not always what everyone agrees upon. By this, I mean, the tomato soup (see title). Prime example: I have either one of two reactions to seeing my lunch selection at work which is MOST often tomato soup and applesauce. I get someone wearing an appalled expression that this will be all I am eating for a 13 hour period with a shake of their head. Or I get the person warning me of how much sodium those canned soups have and they tell me to be careful with eating that all the time. Well fine friends, here are the facts: I don't cook, I never have because I don't like to, not because I can't. I take care of my mother full time. There is no other local family members that can or is willing to help. This means I'm not getting in the kitchen to prepare anything. A healthy alternative or the healthiest for me is to pick up a can of Campbell's Soup. If they have a Healthy Request brand then I choose that one. If not I get Classic Tomato or Creamy Tomato soup. The protein ranges from 3-5gm which is pitiful. The calorie count varies from 80-180 (Creamy is the highest). The fat is 5gm (8% of your daily total). Last the cholesterol is 5mg out of a daily 2000mg allowance and the Sodium a whopping 650mg which is over a quarter of your daily allowance, also 2000mg. I'm sure there is a Biggest Loser fan out there cringing in fright BUT it works for me. I have 30 minutes tops for lunch on a good day, in which time I check in with my mother and assure she has usually made it home safely from dialysis. I don't have time to get too fancy. If you look at the average heat and eat meal you will see that astounding 650 mg of sodium is actually pretty low compared and I'm not even going to talk about getting food from the cafeteria. I'll be lucky if I survive the day! It allows me to drink my lunch quickly and get back to work quicker. If I try to throw down something more complex it makes me nauseous immediately after until it settles and a case of bubble gut for the rest of the shift. While this sounds uncomfortable for me (which it is) imagine being the poor patient stuck in bed, trying to learn how to self administer an insulin shot while being distracted by a nurse who is hiccuping with a case of the BGs. NOT COOL! I think it's better for us all if I stick to my 240 calorie lunch for 3 out of 7 days a week. I hope in the future to find a more health conscious lunch choice along with more time to eat that lunch but in the mean time I think I'm not doing so bad.
The other thing I've always gotten tons of advice on is my exercise regimen (see previous posts). At the end of September I just decided to go with what I know and enjoy. That is walking and running. Now I am not run ready as of yet but I practice and I am getting there. At least 3 times a week I set aside time and I walk 4 miles. Some of those times I will walk with 3lb weights (x2) and I have a ball. I participated in a 2K walk and I am planning to attend more as my schedule changes. Now when I say I walk, I don't want you to think I am traipsing up my street at a leisurely pace. I go to Ed Austin Park on Monument Rd and McCormick, I put on my head phones and I haul ass, my wide flat ass. I walk at too fast a pace to carry a conversation and it is on alternating terrain and incline. Every week I try to adjust the speed and time I am sprinting to have a switch up on my body. It seems to have worked so far. This is my official "hmmph" to everyone that keeps trying to push me into things that are not me. I don't want to Zumbaa. It looks fun...for someone else. I failed miserably at it and while I may make another attempt someday, I won't be relying on it as an exercise regimen. I am not doing or promising to do anything I don't feel 100% comfortable with. I would only be lying to myself which would be the unhealthiest habit of all and lead no where good...for me. Hey, besides, walking clears my mind and I got a thumbs up from the closest person I can refer to as a walking partner, a man in his mid to late fifties (I am guessing) who in warm weather was always dressed as if he was going on Safari. I have dubbed him "Safari Man" (refer to 90s show Martin to get this joke).
I have also begun wearing size 22/24 clothes, which was what I was wearing my Senior year in highschool. This prompted me to pull out clothes I haven't seen in a while/were donated from a friend and it gave me a harsh revelation into my career path. Apparently, I settled for my current job. That is not to say I don't love being a nurse but I think I have hidden behind it because it's safe. I don't have to dress up and I didn't. Blue scrubs have become my permenant wardrobe outside of my walking clothes. I never wear make-up (which I can) and earrings/french tips are a common sense no-no. As I have said since highschool, I dream of also being a novelist. I dreamed of taking nursing to the next level and eventually being a Cancer Research nurse. I planned to become an active member in the Black Nurses Society and the local chapter of ONS. None of that has happened and as much as I want to blame other factors, at the end of the day, I sold myself short. I can do better and I will endeavor, as I reach the ripe old age of 33, to actually do better.
Finally, my hair loss update. I have lost a ton of hair in the last couple of months. At first it seemed that it was due to the surgery (alopecia is a common/expected side effect caused by malabsorption). The only problem with that logic was I had a Vertical Sleeve which is different in that it does not work by malabsorption and instead only reduces the size of the stomach, much like a gastric band. Again people were helpful in offering their advice and I did everything from cut my hair in September with bi weekly scalp treatment to suggest to my primary doctor I wanted to be on Biotin/Prenatal vitamins to help it. In the end, on a hunch, my doctor suggested a Vitamin D deficiency and prescribed me some supplements. It's been about a month now and while I am still losing a good bit of hair it is no where near the amount I was losing. I am no longer at risk for being bald and the cut I got earlier in September combined with it's thinning have my hair really looking healthy.
So the bottom line: I need to stop worrying and I need to keep tuning out other people. Again, I love the cheerleaders in my life but I also hear alot of negative/critical things as well. Whether people mean it or not, it's nothing to do with the people around me, it is about building on me. I deserve more and you only get it from being better with every new day than you were the day before, not by someone else's yardstick, only your own will get the measurement just right.
Until next time,
Fat Girl
That leads me to the first topic, my diet. I know I have friends and family trying to help but you really aren't. If following advice of everyone led to weight loss I would be a svelt 99lb waif from all the advice I've taken in, listened to, or dismissed over the years. Please refer to previous posts if you are reading this and somehow know me without being aware, as the Lady Gaga song goes: I was born this way! Not to say I don't have love for all my cheerleaders, that will never change. I only mean to say that this is my journey and the one voice I haven't listened to in all these years is my own inner voice. This is the only voice I am ultimately listening to now. She knows me best after all ;-)
So what is my diet? My diet is everything/anything I want to eat. I can eat literally anything 6 months (-10 days) post op. That's what makes it challenging. It is up to me to make those choices on what is best. What is best for me, is not always what everyone agrees upon. By this, I mean, the tomato soup (see title). Prime example: I have either one of two reactions to seeing my lunch selection at work which is MOST often tomato soup and applesauce. I get someone wearing an appalled expression that this will be all I am eating for a 13 hour period with a shake of their head. Or I get the person warning me of how much sodium those canned soups have and they tell me to be careful with eating that all the time. Well fine friends, here are the facts: I don't cook, I never have because I don't like to, not because I can't. I take care of my mother full time. There is no other local family members that can or is willing to help. This means I'm not getting in the kitchen to prepare anything. A healthy alternative or the healthiest for me is to pick up a can of Campbell's Soup. If they have a Healthy Request brand then I choose that one. If not I get Classic Tomato or Creamy Tomato soup. The protein ranges from 3-5gm which is pitiful. The calorie count varies from 80-180 (Creamy is the highest). The fat is 5gm (8% of your daily total). Last the cholesterol is 5mg out of a daily 2000mg allowance and the Sodium a whopping 650mg which is over a quarter of your daily allowance, also 2000mg. I'm sure there is a Biggest Loser fan out there cringing in fright BUT it works for me. I have 30 minutes tops for lunch on a good day, in which time I check in with my mother and assure she has usually made it home safely from dialysis. I don't have time to get too fancy. If you look at the average heat and eat meal you will see that astounding 650 mg of sodium is actually pretty low compared and I'm not even going to talk about getting food from the cafeteria. I'll be lucky if I survive the day! It allows me to drink my lunch quickly and get back to work quicker. If I try to throw down something more complex it makes me nauseous immediately after until it settles and a case of bubble gut for the rest of the shift. While this sounds uncomfortable for me (which it is) imagine being the poor patient stuck in bed, trying to learn how to self administer an insulin shot while being distracted by a nurse who is hiccuping with a case of the BGs. NOT COOL! I think it's better for us all if I stick to my 240 calorie lunch for 3 out of 7 days a week. I hope in the future to find a more health conscious lunch choice along with more time to eat that lunch but in the mean time I think I'm not doing so bad.
The other thing I've always gotten tons of advice on is my exercise regimen (see previous posts). At the end of September I just decided to go with what I know and enjoy. That is walking and running. Now I am not run ready as of yet but I practice and I am getting there. At least 3 times a week I set aside time and I walk 4 miles. Some of those times I will walk with 3lb weights (x2) and I have a ball. I participated in a 2K walk and I am planning to attend more as my schedule changes. Now when I say I walk, I don't want you to think I am traipsing up my street at a leisurely pace. I go to Ed Austin Park on Monument Rd and McCormick, I put on my head phones and I haul ass, my wide flat ass. I walk at too fast a pace to carry a conversation and it is on alternating terrain and incline. Every week I try to adjust the speed and time I am sprinting to have a switch up on my body. It seems to have worked so far. This is my official "hmmph" to everyone that keeps trying to push me into things that are not me. I don't want to Zumbaa. It looks fun...for someone else. I failed miserably at it and while I may make another attempt someday, I won't be relying on it as an exercise regimen. I am not doing or promising to do anything I don't feel 100% comfortable with. I would only be lying to myself which would be the unhealthiest habit of all and lead no where good...for me. Hey, besides, walking clears my mind and I got a thumbs up from the closest person I can refer to as a walking partner, a man in his mid to late fifties (I am guessing) who in warm weather was always dressed as if he was going on Safari. I have dubbed him "Safari Man" (refer to 90s show Martin to get this joke).
I have also begun wearing size 22/24 clothes, which was what I was wearing my Senior year in highschool. This prompted me to pull out clothes I haven't seen in a while/were donated from a friend and it gave me a harsh revelation into my career path. Apparently, I settled for my current job. That is not to say I don't love being a nurse but I think I have hidden behind it because it's safe. I don't have to dress up and I didn't. Blue scrubs have become my permenant wardrobe outside of my walking clothes. I never wear make-up (which I can) and earrings/french tips are a common sense no-no. As I have said since highschool, I dream of also being a novelist. I dreamed of taking nursing to the next level and eventually being a Cancer Research nurse. I planned to become an active member in the Black Nurses Society and the local chapter of ONS. None of that has happened and as much as I want to blame other factors, at the end of the day, I sold myself short. I can do better and I will endeavor, as I reach the ripe old age of 33, to actually do better.
Finally, my hair loss update. I have lost a ton of hair in the last couple of months. At first it seemed that it was due to the surgery (alopecia is a common/expected side effect caused by malabsorption). The only problem with that logic was I had a Vertical Sleeve which is different in that it does not work by malabsorption and instead only reduces the size of the stomach, much like a gastric band. Again people were helpful in offering their advice and I did everything from cut my hair in September with bi weekly scalp treatment to suggest to my primary doctor I wanted to be on Biotin/Prenatal vitamins to help it. In the end, on a hunch, my doctor suggested a Vitamin D deficiency and prescribed me some supplements. It's been about a month now and while I am still losing a good bit of hair it is no where near the amount I was losing. I am no longer at risk for being bald and the cut I got earlier in September combined with it's thinning have my hair really looking healthy.
So the bottom line: I need to stop worrying and I need to keep tuning out other people. Again, I love the cheerleaders in my life but I also hear alot of negative/critical things as well. Whether people mean it or not, it's nothing to do with the people around me, it is about building on me. I deserve more and you only get it from being better with every new day than you were the day before, not by someone else's yardstick, only your own will get the measurement just right.
Until next time,
Fat Girl
Monday, September 24, 2012
Beyond the weight
I am currently weighing in at 287lbs. That brings my total to 90lbs and I am hitting probably my third hurdle. Most people call these plateaus but I refuse because I will get through this and the plateau indicates stagnancy to me. So, here is my first major hurdle because I am also coming to realize the next half of this weight loss is an all or nothing effort.
The Zumba thing is a work in progress. The skating thing is a pray about it situation. It is now too cold to swim and that leaves me walking. This mornings walk of 4 miles felt great. I did it in 64 minutes and that felt amazing. My arms are sore but in the best way possible. I will succeed and reach goal weight, I do work hard for this. My weight loss surgery only helped me in what I knew was necessary. I have too much at stake not to do more. In the mean time, I promise not to say anything else about what I'm going to do. Apparently a few people in my life have become upset that I talk so much and don't follow through. At the end of the day I think my definition of follow through is different than theirs. On this blog, I promise to try what ever it takes to make a better me. It doesn't mean that I enjoy it, that it's successful, and/or that I will do it more than once. I'm not mad, just focused and when I hear negativity or get side eyed it impacts me negatively. Along that thought process, instead of telling people to get lost, I will just keep my mouth shut and my feet moving.
I am preparing for competition. In June 2013 I am sprinting a 100 yard course with my brother to have him give up smoking. Of all the motivation, this one moves me the most. I can do this. I was born a runner. If you don't know, ask my brother. Hey, you can even ask the purse snatcher I ran down to take back my purse. My nickname should be Kid Adrenaline because while I might look like a big, slow, cow I have always had the wind beneath my feet. All my friends can tell you regardless of my size I move fast. A lot faster than I talk so don't get it twisted. You might be surprised and since my brother has apparently forgotten, he will be too.
School is holding still again. I have to wait until January to start but I'm making progress. Instead of the 30 credits I had to take at UCF I will have to complete 22 at JU. I was asked if I'm ready. Hmm, to take a specialty and get the heck out of the hospital, BSN, OCN, and Dialysis certified. Why yes I am! Working this hard doesn't make any sense! Next career path please! I mean God bless those that make a hospital their life time work but I am not nor will I ever be one of them. My plans are to enjoy this new body and better frame of mind, not be broken by 35. For all those that read the blog regularly then you know that age is decreasing for me. That place is just too much.
For all curious on my vague post recently on men, I am not dating. I haven't even had a nibble. I don't know what that is about but let me just say that I really want a sweetie by V-day. Not for the candy and cards. I am just ready for change and I feel like, with all of my goals if I set them, develop them, and not let myself toss them aside or forget, 5-6 months, when I'm about 220 and looking about 180, I should be attracting some attention. I don't want to be married but I'm not soliciting a sex partner either, I just want companionship from someone outside of my friends and family. Sometimes I feel totally alone, tight rope walking, without a safety net. I don't have another person that I can lean on. For years I have relied on my friends to be my support system while I was going through my many issues but lately I find no one cares. I was leaving work Saturday night and was an hour late and I realized no one cared. I called my brother to ask him about some random nothingness and he rushed me off the phone. Neither one of my girlfriends called me back. No one had checked my facebook status that day. Heck, my own mother hung up the phone on me because she had a headache. So as I'm driving down beach looking at the 295 South signs I wondered if anyone would give a dang if I just got on the highway and disappeared to nowhere or met my demise? How long would it take anyone to realize I was gone? This is what it is like to be utterly alone in a crowded room.
Not going to sink into that pity pool though. I need to regroup and change that aspect of my life by whatever means necessary. That is not to say I want 10 calls each night I work asking how my day was and if I'm doing good, bad, or the other (remember, antisocial butterfly). It simply means that, I can't expect the world to slow down and cater to Tish, I've got to find that someone and make the effort. If I'm not a priority to anyone then maybe I should start focusing on first making a priority of myself and then actively seeking someone that shares that view.
This also doesn't mean I'm depressed or in a dark place. To be honest, I feel great both physically, mentally, as well as emotionally. I just want more and so you guys can understand all that makes up me, I need you to see that I am capable of getting more.
Until next time, One love,
Fat Girl aka "Kid Adrenaline" ;-)
The Zumba thing is a work in progress. The skating thing is a pray about it situation. It is now too cold to swim and that leaves me walking. This mornings walk of 4 miles felt great. I did it in 64 minutes and that felt amazing. My arms are sore but in the best way possible. I will succeed and reach goal weight, I do work hard for this. My weight loss surgery only helped me in what I knew was necessary. I have too much at stake not to do more. In the mean time, I promise not to say anything else about what I'm going to do. Apparently a few people in my life have become upset that I talk so much and don't follow through. At the end of the day I think my definition of follow through is different than theirs. On this blog, I promise to try what ever it takes to make a better me. It doesn't mean that I enjoy it, that it's successful, and/or that I will do it more than once. I'm not mad, just focused and when I hear negativity or get side eyed it impacts me negatively. Along that thought process, instead of telling people to get lost, I will just keep my mouth shut and my feet moving.
I am preparing for competition. In June 2013 I am sprinting a 100 yard course with my brother to have him give up smoking. Of all the motivation, this one moves me the most. I can do this. I was born a runner. If you don't know, ask my brother. Hey, you can even ask the purse snatcher I ran down to take back my purse. My nickname should be Kid Adrenaline because while I might look like a big, slow, cow I have always had the wind beneath my feet. All my friends can tell you regardless of my size I move fast. A lot faster than I talk so don't get it twisted. You might be surprised and since my brother has apparently forgotten, he will be too.
School is holding still again. I have to wait until January to start but I'm making progress. Instead of the 30 credits I had to take at UCF I will have to complete 22 at JU. I was asked if I'm ready. Hmm, to take a specialty and get the heck out of the hospital, BSN, OCN, and Dialysis certified. Why yes I am! Working this hard doesn't make any sense! Next career path please! I mean God bless those that make a hospital their life time work but I am not nor will I ever be one of them. My plans are to enjoy this new body and better frame of mind, not be broken by 35. For all those that read the blog regularly then you know that age is decreasing for me. That place is just too much.
For all curious on my vague post recently on men, I am not dating. I haven't even had a nibble. I don't know what that is about but let me just say that I really want a sweetie by V-day. Not for the candy and cards. I am just ready for change and I feel like, with all of my goals if I set them, develop them, and not let myself toss them aside or forget, 5-6 months, when I'm about 220 and looking about 180, I should be attracting some attention. I don't want to be married but I'm not soliciting a sex partner either, I just want companionship from someone outside of my friends and family. Sometimes I feel totally alone, tight rope walking, without a safety net. I don't have another person that I can lean on. For years I have relied on my friends to be my support system while I was going through my many issues but lately I find no one cares. I was leaving work Saturday night and was an hour late and I realized no one cared. I called my brother to ask him about some random nothingness and he rushed me off the phone. Neither one of my girlfriends called me back. No one had checked my facebook status that day. Heck, my own mother hung up the phone on me because she had a headache. So as I'm driving down beach looking at the 295 South signs I wondered if anyone would give a dang if I just got on the highway and disappeared to nowhere or met my demise? How long would it take anyone to realize I was gone? This is what it is like to be utterly alone in a crowded room.
Not going to sink into that pity pool though. I need to regroup and change that aspect of my life by whatever means necessary. That is not to say I want 10 calls each night I work asking how my day was and if I'm doing good, bad, or the other (remember, antisocial butterfly). It simply means that, I can't expect the world to slow down and cater to Tish, I've got to find that someone and make the effort. If I'm not a priority to anyone then maybe I should start focusing on first making a priority of myself and then actively seeking someone that shares that view.
This also doesn't mean I'm depressed or in a dark place. To be honest, I feel great both physically, mentally, as well as emotionally. I just want more and so you guys can understand all that makes up me, I need you to see that I am capable of getting more.
Until next time, One love,
Fat Girl aka "Kid Adrenaline" ;-)
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Mile Marker 299
Trying to not make this a long drawn out post today but I did want to let every one that is following my success know that I have left the 300's behind me and weighed in this morning at 299.2 pounds. For those keeping track that is 78lbs down from my initial surgery weigh in of 377lbs and 82lbs down from my heaviest weight of 381lbs. I am about 5 days behind on reaching that goal but am in no way disappointed. It took a lifetime after all to gain and the amount I've lost thus far is astounding to consider in such a short period of time.
Stress is still playing a major factor in the rate of my weight loss and I continue to struggle with wrangling that aspect of my life. Like most Americans, food is cheap and easy. No one openly berates you for overeating. Most people don't even know about it unless you tell them.
A friend and I recently disagreed on this issue. While I do know that I clearly have a "fat gene" passed down from both sides of my family and while I do have a slew of co-morbidity including hormone imbalances, diabetes, asthma that limits activity, sleep apnea, depression, and indicators of an addictive personality; I do not say that couldn't help being morbidly obese. In fact, I chose to be morbidly obese. I am solely responsible for how out of control it became. Accepting this responsibility I also acknowledge that I am in control of everything I do now to reverse the damage I have done both mentally and physically to myself. This is important to me because accepting the role of victim...or in a nicer way...accepting a half truth, that being over weight can't be helped, in so many ways, handicaps you to moving forward. It gives you a crutch to fall back on and someone or something to blame when you fail to achieve weight loss goals.
This does not mean I find that friend, myself, or anyone else suffering with obesity a monster of some sort. In fact, people that struggle with obesity are some of the strongest people. It isn't something you can hide and most people judge you long before your story is told. Unfortunately, it does mean that I may hurt your feelings with my honesty at times. I don't see a way to not hurt someone's feelings on this subject but I apologize to anyone that has had their feelings hurt. Being obese is very painful in both mind and body and no one likes to think that they hurt themselves more than any other person could or has. Knowledge is power though and acknowledging is stamina that buoys that power.
I continue to struggle with staggering my drinking with meals. It is a hard habit to break and continues to be a painful lesson learned. I also struggle to eat not beef but pork rather. I hate to accept this but I may have to say so long to the swine. Fish and chicken are my friend. Bread is not. For that matter, most processed foods are not my friend. At this stage, I can eat whatever I want to eat, including desserts but I try to avoid eating anything but a liquid soup while at work because my stomach needs about an hour to eat most meals which I don't and will never have. I eat lean meat and only meat sometimes at meals because I focus on piling on the protein. Green veggies are good too and I am incorporating more of them. I take daily multivitamins, a gummy vitamin sold at Sam's Club for adults. I am supposed to be taking a Vitamin B12, Folate, D3 compound supplement but the taste makes me want to hurl. Instead I get B12 shots when I go to my primary, I drink zipfizz with these minerals/vitamins in it, and I focus on fish in my diet, particularly salmon for the D3 and Omega 3. I try to avoid taking as much medicine as possible, always have, and opt instead to naturally incorporate those things into my diet. We will see how this is working in September when I get a new set of labs. Maybe sooner than that as I recently completed a Health Screening for work and will get the results next week. I strongly advise people to consult their physician and not my blog for health information. I list my own information to give people, particularly those that have had weight loss surgery, direction. Not to play doctor.
Another thing I am still not quite "back to normal" with is my menstrual cycle. At first I thought it was late but now realize that it just is completely out of whack. This month I had two abbreviated cycles while the month before I had none. It wreaks havoc on the scale obviously. I'm not even going to talk about the emotional upheaval it causes! I do believe this is why it is recommended that I wait 18 months to 2 years before I become pregnant. While before, I didn't want children and paid little attention to that information, it now matters greatly to me. Before, I think I squashed down that dream because I didn't have a husband or a boyfriend. I didn't even have a hopeful candidate (still don't). Also, I didn't think I would be able to carry a pregnancy to full term due to how significantly overweight I was and if I did, they were at greater risk for birth defects. Who would knowingly desire a child knowing how dangerous it could be to you or the baby?
The hope never was fully extinguished though because now, as the pounds are shed, the desire burns brighter than it ever has before. The realization that I will reach my weight loss goals opens up new doors of possibility in both my career and my personal life and I confess to have the goal of someday giving life to a mini me a high priority. Lord help the man foolish enough to fall victim to these wiles ;-) Boy is he getting a handful! More importantly, I ask Father, that you point him in the right direction on the map to finding me ;-)
One love,
Not So Fat Girl
Stress is still playing a major factor in the rate of my weight loss and I continue to struggle with wrangling that aspect of my life. Like most Americans, food is cheap and easy. No one openly berates you for overeating. Most people don't even know about it unless you tell them.
A friend and I recently disagreed on this issue. While I do know that I clearly have a "fat gene" passed down from both sides of my family and while I do have a slew of co-morbidity including hormone imbalances, diabetes, asthma that limits activity, sleep apnea, depression, and indicators of an addictive personality; I do not say that couldn't help being morbidly obese. In fact, I chose to be morbidly obese. I am solely responsible for how out of control it became. Accepting this responsibility I also acknowledge that I am in control of everything I do now to reverse the damage I have done both mentally and physically to myself. This is important to me because accepting the role of victim...or in a nicer way...accepting a half truth, that being over weight can't be helped, in so many ways, handicaps you to moving forward. It gives you a crutch to fall back on and someone or something to blame when you fail to achieve weight loss goals.
This does not mean I find that friend, myself, or anyone else suffering with obesity a monster of some sort. In fact, people that struggle with obesity are some of the strongest people. It isn't something you can hide and most people judge you long before your story is told. Unfortunately, it does mean that I may hurt your feelings with my honesty at times. I don't see a way to not hurt someone's feelings on this subject but I apologize to anyone that has had their feelings hurt. Being obese is very painful in both mind and body and no one likes to think that they hurt themselves more than any other person could or has. Knowledge is power though and acknowledging is stamina that buoys that power.
I continue to struggle with staggering my drinking with meals. It is a hard habit to break and continues to be a painful lesson learned. I also struggle to eat not beef but pork rather. I hate to accept this but I may have to say so long to the swine. Fish and chicken are my friend. Bread is not. For that matter, most processed foods are not my friend. At this stage, I can eat whatever I want to eat, including desserts but I try to avoid eating anything but a liquid soup while at work because my stomach needs about an hour to eat most meals which I don't and will never have. I eat lean meat and only meat sometimes at meals because I focus on piling on the protein. Green veggies are good too and I am incorporating more of them. I take daily multivitamins, a gummy vitamin sold at Sam's Club for adults. I am supposed to be taking a Vitamin B12, Folate, D3 compound supplement but the taste makes me want to hurl. Instead I get B12 shots when I go to my primary, I drink zipfizz with these minerals/vitamins in it, and I focus on fish in my diet, particularly salmon for the D3 and Omega 3. I try to avoid taking as much medicine as possible, always have, and opt instead to naturally incorporate those things into my diet. We will see how this is working in September when I get a new set of labs. Maybe sooner than that as I recently completed a Health Screening for work and will get the results next week. I strongly advise people to consult their physician and not my blog for health information. I list my own information to give people, particularly those that have had weight loss surgery, direction. Not to play doctor.
Another thing I am still not quite "back to normal" with is my menstrual cycle. At first I thought it was late but now realize that it just is completely out of whack. This month I had two abbreviated cycles while the month before I had none. It wreaks havoc on the scale obviously. I'm not even going to talk about the emotional upheaval it causes! I do believe this is why it is recommended that I wait 18 months to 2 years before I become pregnant. While before, I didn't want children and paid little attention to that information, it now matters greatly to me. Before, I think I squashed down that dream because I didn't have a husband or a boyfriend. I didn't even have a hopeful candidate (still don't). Also, I didn't think I would be able to carry a pregnancy to full term due to how significantly overweight I was and if I did, they were at greater risk for birth defects. Who would knowingly desire a child knowing how dangerous it could be to you or the baby?
The hope never was fully extinguished though because now, as the pounds are shed, the desire burns brighter than it ever has before. The realization that I will reach my weight loss goals opens up new doors of possibility in both my career and my personal life and I confess to have the goal of someday giving life to a mini me a high priority. Lord help the man foolish enough to fall victim to these wiles ;-) Boy is he getting a handful! More importantly, I ask Father, that you point him in the right direction on the map to finding me ;-)
One love,
Not So Fat Girl
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Say "No" to Gyms!
Hello people! I am here to give you the first post of August and tell you I now weigh 307. That is the big 7....0...in weight loss! Yippee!
Alright, now that I have that out of the way, let me apologize for my crazy title. To assuage the feelings of my personal trainer friends and all my gym rat friends let me first clarify that I LOVE BEING A MEMBER OF A GYM! The problem was for me in the past that I never really have been able to partake of the gym. I have belonged to various gyms my whole adult life. I don't know if you guys recall but my first membership was to Spa Lady, an all female gym that even had pool access. I went twice. I belonged to two gyms at work. I think I may have went 4 times at HSBC, that was the most. I have a free gym at work now that I never seem to make before it closes and God forbid I go on a day off. I have belonged to Bailey's Gym in four locations twice. They are my favorite because they have the dark room that plays sports so I would get on the elliptical machine, pop on my headphones and watch all the hunkahunka men jump on the treadmills in front of me to get the best spot for the boob tube. Some even went topless. SQUEEEE! Alas, the first time was ruined by a mean Bosnian trainer who literally insulted me in front of the entire gym. It got so bad her manager came out and called her on it. The second time, I simply had no one to go with so it grew boring. It wasn't like super hot treadmill guys were jumping off and talking to me. Let's face it...big girl + sweat stains= not a good look. Finally I have been on a tight budget with my nephew and family trips and...eww...student loans so I went to Just Fitness where, well, I tried since it was cheaper but it just wasn't Bailey's. I will say that I have known many of my big girl counterparts who find success at the gym too. I worked with a nurse that simply looks amazing after probably a year of a strict diet and personal training sessions. I have friends that swear by it. A high school friend had to have lost 100lbs since and has kept it off by constantly hitting the gym. I have family that have lost weight and actually instruct classes at the gym. My closest nursing friend spends any time she's not at work in the gym and it brings her peace. My very best friend has been using the gym at work and she is really trimming down with a healthy diet. I am proud of all these people.
That being said, as much as I applaud them for doing it, I realized it is not right for me. I have posted before that I have to once again adapt and recreate myself. Some thing I tell people all the time and I apply to myself as well. "You can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results.". No, if I want to become a healthier version of myself, the gym just isn't the answer FOR ME. I get mad at friends for not working out for one. I hate looking like the pathetic loner (insecurity speaking) at the gym and gym classes are worst because I have no rhythm. I have zero respect for most personal trainers as well (not all because there are some excellent ones out there too) because I am a nurse now and have been for four years. Just because I LOOK like I know nothing of healthy living doesn't mean I didn't pay attention in all the years of training. I have taken multiple nutrition classes and am well versed on cardiac, diabetic, and renal diets because I LIVE it. Some of the crap I have been advised to do from a personal trainer should be held up in a court of law as I sue them and the company that hired the ignoramus with a certificate. I also have come to accept that as much as I enjoyed the concept of toting around a gym key card, I HATE BEING INDOORS. I hate touching sweaty machines, staring at the back of people's heads, and that awful sweat and leather smell. I hate the loud thumping music or the dumb talk shows playing just above eye level. I hate not being able to wear whatever the hell I want because nothing ever looks good enough. I have always hated their torture devices and would force myself to go which ties back into the whole friends-not-going-then-I'm-not-going part. Again, this is not what everyone says but...it may be what they are thinking, maybe not. Whatever is going on in everyone else's mind, this girl is jumping off of the elliptical.
That brings me to my current dilemma. I need to be more active. After the first 4-6 months (November) I will have to work to continue to lose the weight. That's usually after the first 100-125lbs. Here is my resolution: I just need to live. Sounds simple right? One of the things about being fat all your life is there are plenty things I have never done. There are things that I have always wanted to do or been forced to set aside. These are the things I need to do to keep me losing weight. What do I mean?
Well, the last 15lbs have been lost simply by increasing my activity. I don't sit down. Even immediately after surgery I walked my ass off at Disney World...literally. My Aunt Tracy and I ran through Animal Kingdom one Sunday afternoon. It was awesome and my reward was that I rode a roller coaster (Everest) for the first time in 14 years. I lost 7lbs that trip! I walk every chance I get and I take the stairs whenever I can to the garage at work or I walk the incline into the garage. I was shocked to find I no longer get winded doing either task.
My nephew is a personal trainer of the first water. Keeping up with him is better than running around a small mirrored room with a weight ball any day. I am a little ashamed to say I use him but he loves the attention and time with auntie and I hope I can do it for years to come. I have swam more this summer, probably more than I have ever swam in my life. Not just at a measly pool either, I have swam in the big boy pool, which most people call an ocean. I initially was working on perfecting my skills because while I am a decent swimmer I am the weakest of my family who happen to be fish people. My competitive side has said I need to change that. I swim against the tide to work on this. I swim probably two to three times a week until it gets too cold.
I am working on purchasing a bike or roller skates. Here's the thing. I know how to ride a bike, my father taught me so it's very special to me. I never quite got the hang of roller skates. I want to though. I've always wanted to disco dance with my Uncle Karl (who has a bad knee now) on some skates. Again, my whole family knows how to skate. I am the weakest link once more. I don't want to consider that the ship has sailed but how badly bruised will I become trying to defy my age and gravity? Only time will tell and with either choice I will need lots of prayers.
I still walk and will be working on my sprint since I bet my baby brother that once I'm back down to fighting size next year I will be the sprinter I was at 14, the one that could ALMOST lick her brothers, before the asthma kicked in. Competition is a big influence and a bigger demon in my gut until I beat him. No exchange of money though, he says he will swear off cigarettes FINALLY if I beat him. You should all, of course, cheer for me.
Lastly, once I reach 250lbs I want to join some dance classes and/or a martial arts class with my best friend. I feel like I took her away from that at 16 (martial arts) and turned on to working, eating, and a forever partner to watch movies with. I want to learn more grace and either one of these can do it. Even if I thoroughly regret this promise to myself later I won't regret having a second chance to taste life and experience all the stuff I've missed out on and that beats the dang gym any day.
I'm an honest soul so if I realize that this is not working I will enlist the help of a GREAT personal trainer and recant my above statements about the gym but for now. I'm swearing them off in lieu of a more fulfilling routine called "making up for lost time"!
Until the next time,
Fat Girl
Alright, now that I have that out of the way, let me apologize for my crazy title. To assuage the feelings of my personal trainer friends and all my gym rat friends let me first clarify that I LOVE BEING A MEMBER OF A GYM! The problem was for me in the past that I never really have been able to partake of the gym. I have belonged to various gyms my whole adult life. I don't know if you guys recall but my first membership was to Spa Lady, an all female gym that even had pool access. I went twice. I belonged to two gyms at work. I think I may have went 4 times at HSBC, that was the most. I have a free gym at work now that I never seem to make before it closes and God forbid I go on a day off. I have belonged to Bailey's Gym in four locations twice. They are my favorite because they have the dark room that plays sports so I would get on the elliptical machine, pop on my headphones and watch all the hunkahunka men jump on the treadmills in front of me to get the best spot for the boob tube. Some even went topless. SQUEEEE! Alas, the first time was ruined by a mean Bosnian trainer who literally insulted me in front of the entire gym. It got so bad her manager came out and called her on it. The second time, I simply had no one to go with so it grew boring. It wasn't like super hot treadmill guys were jumping off and talking to me. Let's face it...big girl + sweat stains= not a good look. Finally I have been on a tight budget with my nephew and family trips and...eww...student loans so I went to Just Fitness where, well, I tried since it was cheaper but it just wasn't Bailey's. I will say that I have known many of my big girl counterparts who find success at the gym too. I worked with a nurse that simply looks amazing after probably a year of a strict diet and personal training sessions. I have friends that swear by it. A high school friend had to have lost 100lbs since and has kept it off by constantly hitting the gym. I have family that have lost weight and actually instruct classes at the gym. My closest nursing friend spends any time she's not at work in the gym and it brings her peace. My very best friend has been using the gym at work and she is really trimming down with a healthy diet. I am proud of all these people.
That being said, as much as I applaud them for doing it, I realized it is not right for me. I have posted before that I have to once again adapt and recreate myself. Some thing I tell people all the time and I apply to myself as well. "You can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results.". No, if I want to become a healthier version of myself, the gym just isn't the answer FOR ME. I get mad at friends for not working out for one. I hate looking like the pathetic loner (insecurity speaking) at the gym and gym classes are worst because I have no rhythm. I have zero respect for most personal trainers as well (not all because there are some excellent ones out there too) because I am a nurse now and have been for four years. Just because I LOOK like I know nothing of healthy living doesn't mean I didn't pay attention in all the years of training. I have taken multiple nutrition classes and am well versed on cardiac, diabetic, and renal diets because I LIVE it. Some of the crap I have been advised to do from a personal trainer should be held up in a court of law as I sue them and the company that hired the ignoramus with a certificate. I also have come to accept that as much as I enjoyed the concept of toting around a gym key card, I HATE BEING INDOORS. I hate touching sweaty machines, staring at the back of people's heads, and that awful sweat and leather smell. I hate the loud thumping music or the dumb talk shows playing just above eye level. I hate not being able to wear whatever the hell I want because nothing ever looks good enough. I have always hated their torture devices and would force myself to go which ties back into the whole friends-not-going-then-I'm-not-going part. Again, this is not what everyone says but...it may be what they are thinking, maybe not. Whatever is going on in everyone else's mind, this girl is jumping off of the elliptical.
That brings me to my current dilemma. I need to be more active. After the first 4-6 months (November) I will have to work to continue to lose the weight. That's usually after the first 100-125lbs. Here is my resolution: I just need to live. Sounds simple right? One of the things about being fat all your life is there are plenty things I have never done. There are things that I have always wanted to do or been forced to set aside. These are the things I need to do to keep me losing weight. What do I mean?
Well, the last 15lbs have been lost simply by increasing my activity. I don't sit down. Even immediately after surgery I walked my ass off at Disney World...literally. My Aunt Tracy and I ran through Animal Kingdom one Sunday afternoon. It was awesome and my reward was that I rode a roller coaster (Everest) for the first time in 14 years. I lost 7lbs that trip! I walk every chance I get and I take the stairs whenever I can to the garage at work or I walk the incline into the garage. I was shocked to find I no longer get winded doing either task.
My nephew is a personal trainer of the first water. Keeping up with him is better than running around a small mirrored room with a weight ball any day. I am a little ashamed to say I use him but he loves the attention and time with auntie and I hope I can do it for years to come. I have swam more this summer, probably more than I have ever swam in my life. Not just at a measly pool either, I have swam in the big boy pool, which most people call an ocean. I initially was working on perfecting my skills because while I am a decent swimmer I am the weakest of my family who happen to be fish people. My competitive side has said I need to change that. I swim against the tide to work on this. I swim probably two to three times a week until it gets too cold.
I am working on purchasing a bike or roller skates. Here's the thing. I know how to ride a bike, my father taught me so it's very special to me. I never quite got the hang of roller skates. I want to though. I've always wanted to disco dance with my Uncle Karl (who has a bad knee now) on some skates. Again, my whole family knows how to skate. I am the weakest link once more. I don't want to consider that the ship has sailed but how badly bruised will I become trying to defy my age and gravity? Only time will tell and with either choice I will need lots of prayers.
I still walk and will be working on my sprint since I bet my baby brother that once I'm back down to fighting size next year I will be the sprinter I was at 14, the one that could ALMOST lick her brothers, before the asthma kicked in. Competition is a big influence and a bigger demon in my gut until I beat him. No exchange of money though, he says he will swear off cigarettes FINALLY if I beat him. You should all, of course, cheer for me.
Lastly, once I reach 250lbs I want to join some dance classes and/or a martial arts class with my best friend. I feel like I took her away from that at 16 (martial arts) and turned on to working, eating, and a forever partner to watch movies with. I want to learn more grace and either one of these can do it. Even if I thoroughly regret this promise to myself later I won't regret having a second chance to taste life and experience all the stuff I've missed out on and that beats the dang gym any day.
I'm an honest soul so if I realize that this is not working I will enlist the help of a GREAT personal trainer and recant my above statements about the gym but for now. I'm swearing them off in lieu of a more fulfilling routine called "making up for lost time"!
Until the next time,
Fat Girl
Monday, July 23, 2012
Reporting For Duty
I wish I was a more diligent blogger but the truth about myself, that I accepted almost a decade ago is that I am a habitual procrastinator and I don't like deadlines. It was something I was forced to accept when I considered my career path and the reality of being a successful writer. I thoroughly enjoy writing...as long as it is when I want and about what I want. It's not that I can't write about anything. I've found I have a gift for turning words even. It's just that my motivation is not there to finish something and as a writer with deadlines...it would not have realistically worked out. Burn out was inevitable. Having tasted the forbidden fruit, I will find myself committing to a writing project that I am doomed to disappoint on. For that, my ever faithful supporters, who read all my manic posts, blogs, and watch my randomly painful vids, I thank you. Every once in a while I surprise even myself and come through on time.
That being said, I want to catch you guys up on where I'm at in being the Fat Girl no more. It has been 11 weeks since surgery. Being as I am a Scorpio, with a surgery date of 05/11th and doggedly fixated on 2011(so much so I am STILL correcting charts where I've written it) perhaps this is my week :)
As a reminder, my heaviest weight was 381lbs. I was in a size 5x scrubs, 28-30W in plus sized clothing. I am being gentle because, in honesty, I was beginning to have to butter my gut and hips to slip into some of those 28s. I was having problems carrying around the weight on my nursing floor which is physically taxing to just about any body for 13 hours a day, healthy or not. From previous history I had lost my right kidney due to a staghorn kidney stone that was left undiagnosed/treated for way too long. This combined with hardcore protein loading diets over the past five years had completely crashed my metabolism and my thyroid glands were in crisis. I had early onset of type II diabetes following in the footsteps of my mother and grandmother, both of whom eventually were placed on dialysis and inevitably dealt with heart problems (hardening of arteries) secondary to their long term struggle with the disease. My grandmother Julie, after years of dialysis and a kidney transplant succumbed to a heart attack when I was 13 years of age. My mother now, has had eight heart stents placed to prevent this from happening to her, has been told she needs a bypass but discouraged due to her poor health. Did I mention both of my predecessors had both their kidneys and I only have the one?
On my father's side I have the sickle cell trait, which can have physical symptoms similar to the disease itself and does wreak havoc with your blood/anemias. I also have heart disease and hypertension, which makes a wonderful combination with the prolonged diabetic symptoms. I have sleep apnea, apparently passed down from my grandfather who literally dropped dead of a massive heart attack when I was only 4 and he was 61. My grandmother Mary and now my only blood related aunt on my father's side were both diagnosed in their early to mid 50s with not just breast cancer but an aggressive breast cancer inappropriately titled "Triple Negative" that takes aggressive chemotherapy and radiation to cure and also has a 75% chance of returning in the 3-5 years after the initial diagnosis. You become close friends with an oncologist because regular check-ups are a must as metastasis to other organs like your brain are quick to happen and common to occur. There is a good chance whether I lose weight or not that I may have this battle looming in my future but being overweight makes it 50% more likely. After I realized I was not infallible with the stunning loss of my right kidney at 29 I took a good long look at myself on my 30th birthday. I decided two things: I was way too unhealthy to be so young. If my family's life expectancy was 55-60 years of age then I was "middle aged" and I had done nothing with my life.
For the following two years I worked on etching out my nursing career. I have stopped then started school more than I care to discuss. I became chemo certified and had hopes of following that with oncology certification. It has not happened and is partially responsible for my extended hiatus during my weight loss. I realized at some point, as nonconfirming as I have always tried to be of society's expectations of an overweight black woman from the south, my unconventionality was doing nothing for my career. No matter what accomplishments I strived for and achieved I would always be seen as someone lacking, needing something more because of my obesity. In my twenties I thought I had a complex or an insecurity towards my weight. I do not. I have been overweight every single day of my life. It is harder for me now, adjusting to people telling me how beautiful I am and even sexy than it ever was to be big and confident. No, we as a society have a complex, particularly in healthcare, where we view overweight people as disgusting, repulsive, unattractive, and frankly ignorant. It has never helped that I love to smile and laugh (read previous blog). Many of my coworkers think I just wandered into nursing, that I should be so grateful that my current director puts up with me, and that I should ride this job as long as I can with a huge grateful grin because with a drying up economy and looking the way I did I would be lucky to ever get anything better.
I will validate those claims only with the following sentences and then continue with my purposeful and pointed silence on these points. I was raised by my mother solely as the oldest of three children and her only daughter. My father was murdered when I was only 8 years old. The only support and structure in my life, my Grandmother Mary, died after fighting an extensive and senseless battle with cancer when I was only 15. I have been molested by two of my mother's boyfriends before that tender age of 15. I single handedly built my career both as a loan agent and then all over again as a nurse, which I have wanted to be since I was 15 and my grandmother advised me to become in some of the last words she ever said to me. I put myself through school over the last decade plus and I did it one class at a time. I have struggled with the brutal murder of my brother that resulted in him being returned to us in pieces. When I say I dealt with it, I was forced to arrange his funeral and burial with his headstone by myself with no insurance and not a penny to my name, my mother too distraught to deal with it. All at the age of 22. I continued to pursue loose ends to his disappearance and do to this very day all while knowing his killer is free and unpunished and in the eyes of many people it is just something I need to "accept" because of the life he chose to live which was that of a petty drug dealer. I have fought to hold on to my baby brother as he has had his own tangles with the law and the unemployment line. I have even taken on the additional responsibility of Aunt/Guardian Angel to a nephew brought into the world by two of the most irresponsible people I've ever met. Nothing has ever been given to me that I haven't had to pay back and often time three fold. I am a self sufficient person in the highest sense of the words who has recreated and adapted to many situations that would have taken out someone that is not as God centered, intelligent, resourceful, or nearly as strong as myself. These words are not my pity party. I feel God would not have painted for me a life with so many colors if it didn't make such a breathtaking picture. I am the contradiction to EVERY stereotype and I am proud of that fact. Where I am, I got myself there, holding only His hand and there has been no luck involved seeing as all mine is bad. No, I have worked hard for every minute of it and any blessings I "walk into" are the destination on a both narrow and treacherous path I have been chosen by Him to walk. I don't owe people an explanation on the fruits of my labor be I 175 or 375lbs.
So I stopped blogging for a minute and felt unmotivated to post progress because I didn't feel like those in my life, family, coworkers, etc wish me well but were rather anticipating my fall. Why should I set up the stage, sell the tickets, and give a performance just so everyone could throw tomatoes?
Again, here I am at my 11th week though and I see that I am cheating myself more than anyone in this experience. I want a chance to look back on this from the other side and see how I got over the largest mountain of my life, my struggle with taking care of myself. I want my future husband and children to be able to watch a "fat mommy" video and realize that this was not something I just decided on a whim, nor was it without pain or effort. I look in the mirror and wonder how I could have allowed myself to become the monster I see and yes, I still see an unhealthy blob monster. I am now 313lbs and think the scale is broken, to the point I have two at home and have snuck onto the one at work. I wear a snug size 26 and I still hear a voice in the back of my head telling me it's the cut of the fabric. My sleep apnea continues to improve and will probably be gone at the 100lb mark. I have had to stop all my medications as my blood pressure and blood sugar is low and I am looking forward to labs in September. I am not delusional toward the fact that this is still my "honey moon phase" though. I stay awake at night anxiously chewing my lip with a glazed expression as the doubts take over on whether or not I can do this or in complete panic that the weight I've lost will come falling back on me the same way one of those upstairs safes fall from a window like in the cartoons. The battle is hardly over and wont be for many years to come, probably not ever. I am excited to be down and will always be happy to discuss my surgery prep and outcomes with anyone willing to listen as a testimony to becoming a better person, however you see fit to pursue that.
I have ordered a camcorder and will try to post a video before the week is over. I will try to be more diligent with my blog post but above all, if you don't hear from me for another spell, know that I am in the pursuit of my own happiness in love, family, and career. Know that I AM a happy soul for 90% of my life and these demons are not winning. Lastly, know that while I have shaped and molded my life on my own I do know that there are people cheering me on and that by doing so you have been such a comfort and reinforcement in all of this.
Keep believing and keep encouraging. With love,
Fat Girl
That being said, I want to catch you guys up on where I'm at in being the Fat Girl no more. It has been 11 weeks since surgery. Being as I am a Scorpio, with a surgery date of 05/11th and doggedly fixated on 2011(so much so I am STILL correcting charts where I've written it) perhaps this is my week :)
As a reminder, my heaviest weight was 381lbs. I was in a size 5x scrubs, 28-30W in plus sized clothing. I am being gentle because, in honesty, I was beginning to have to butter my gut and hips to slip into some of those 28s. I was having problems carrying around the weight on my nursing floor which is physically taxing to just about any body for 13 hours a day, healthy or not. From previous history I had lost my right kidney due to a staghorn kidney stone that was left undiagnosed/treated for way too long. This combined with hardcore protein loading diets over the past five years had completely crashed my metabolism and my thyroid glands were in crisis. I had early onset of type II diabetes following in the footsteps of my mother and grandmother, both of whom eventually were placed on dialysis and inevitably dealt with heart problems (hardening of arteries) secondary to their long term struggle with the disease. My grandmother Julie, after years of dialysis and a kidney transplant succumbed to a heart attack when I was 13 years of age. My mother now, has had eight heart stents placed to prevent this from happening to her, has been told she needs a bypass but discouraged due to her poor health. Did I mention both of my predecessors had both their kidneys and I only have the one?
On my father's side I have the sickle cell trait, which can have physical symptoms similar to the disease itself and does wreak havoc with your blood/anemias. I also have heart disease and hypertension, which makes a wonderful combination with the prolonged diabetic symptoms. I have sleep apnea, apparently passed down from my grandfather who literally dropped dead of a massive heart attack when I was only 4 and he was 61. My grandmother Mary and now my only blood related aunt on my father's side were both diagnosed in their early to mid 50s with not just breast cancer but an aggressive breast cancer inappropriately titled "Triple Negative" that takes aggressive chemotherapy and radiation to cure and also has a 75% chance of returning in the 3-5 years after the initial diagnosis. You become close friends with an oncologist because regular check-ups are a must as metastasis to other organs like your brain are quick to happen and common to occur. There is a good chance whether I lose weight or not that I may have this battle looming in my future but being overweight makes it 50% more likely. After I realized I was not infallible with the stunning loss of my right kidney at 29 I took a good long look at myself on my 30th birthday. I decided two things: I was way too unhealthy to be so young. If my family's life expectancy was 55-60 years of age then I was "middle aged" and I had done nothing with my life.
For the following two years I worked on etching out my nursing career. I have stopped then started school more than I care to discuss. I became chemo certified and had hopes of following that with oncology certification. It has not happened and is partially responsible for my extended hiatus during my weight loss. I realized at some point, as nonconfirming as I have always tried to be of society's expectations of an overweight black woman from the south, my unconventionality was doing nothing for my career. No matter what accomplishments I strived for and achieved I would always be seen as someone lacking, needing something more because of my obesity. In my twenties I thought I had a complex or an insecurity towards my weight. I do not. I have been overweight every single day of my life. It is harder for me now, adjusting to people telling me how beautiful I am and even sexy than it ever was to be big and confident. No, we as a society have a complex, particularly in healthcare, where we view overweight people as disgusting, repulsive, unattractive, and frankly ignorant. It has never helped that I love to smile and laugh (read previous blog). Many of my coworkers think I just wandered into nursing, that I should be so grateful that my current director puts up with me, and that I should ride this job as long as I can with a huge grateful grin because with a drying up economy and looking the way I did I would be lucky to ever get anything better.
I will validate those claims only with the following sentences and then continue with my purposeful and pointed silence on these points. I was raised by my mother solely as the oldest of three children and her only daughter. My father was murdered when I was only 8 years old. The only support and structure in my life, my Grandmother Mary, died after fighting an extensive and senseless battle with cancer when I was only 15. I have been molested by two of my mother's boyfriends before that tender age of 15. I single handedly built my career both as a loan agent and then all over again as a nurse, which I have wanted to be since I was 15 and my grandmother advised me to become in some of the last words she ever said to me. I put myself through school over the last decade plus and I did it one class at a time. I have struggled with the brutal murder of my brother that resulted in him being returned to us in pieces. When I say I dealt with it, I was forced to arrange his funeral and burial with his headstone by myself with no insurance and not a penny to my name, my mother too distraught to deal with it. All at the age of 22. I continued to pursue loose ends to his disappearance and do to this very day all while knowing his killer is free and unpunished and in the eyes of many people it is just something I need to "accept" because of the life he chose to live which was that of a petty drug dealer. I have fought to hold on to my baby brother as he has had his own tangles with the law and the unemployment line. I have even taken on the additional responsibility of Aunt/Guardian Angel to a nephew brought into the world by two of the most irresponsible people I've ever met. Nothing has ever been given to me that I haven't had to pay back and often time three fold. I am a self sufficient person in the highest sense of the words who has recreated and adapted to many situations that would have taken out someone that is not as God centered, intelligent, resourceful, or nearly as strong as myself. These words are not my pity party. I feel God would not have painted for me a life with so many colors if it didn't make such a breathtaking picture. I am the contradiction to EVERY stereotype and I am proud of that fact. Where I am, I got myself there, holding only His hand and there has been no luck involved seeing as all mine is bad. No, I have worked hard for every minute of it and any blessings I "walk into" are the destination on a both narrow and treacherous path I have been chosen by Him to walk. I don't owe people an explanation on the fruits of my labor be I 175 or 375lbs.
So I stopped blogging for a minute and felt unmotivated to post progress because I didn't feel like those in my life, family, coworkers, etc wish me well but were rather anticipating my fall. Why should I set up the stage, sell the tickets, and give a performance just so everyone could throw tomatoes?
Again, here I am at my 11th week though and I see that I am cheating myself more than anyone in this experience. I want a chance to look back on this from the other side and see how I got over the largest mountain of my life, my struggle with taking care of myself. I want my future husband and children to be able to watch a "fat mommy" video and realize that this was not something I just decided on a whim, nor was it without pain or effort. I look in the mirror and wonder how I could have allowed myself to become the monster I see and yes, I still see an unhealthy blob monster. I am now 313lbs and think the scale is broken, to the point I have two at home and have snuck onto the one at work. I wear a snug size 26 and I still hear a voice in the back of my head telling me it's the cut of the fabric. My sleep apnea continues to improve and will probably be gone at the 100lb mark. I have had to stop all my medications as my blood pressure and blood sugar is low and I am looking forward to labs in September. I am not delusional toward the fact that this is still my "honey moon phase" though. I stay awake at night anxiously chewing my lip with a glazed expression as the doubts take over on whether or not I can do this or in complete panic that the weight I've lost will come falling back on me the same way one of those upstairs safes fall from a window like in the cartoons. The battle is hardly over and wont be for many years to come, probably not ever. I am excited to be down and will always be happy to discuss my surgery prep and outcomes with anyone willing to listen as a testimony to becoming a better person, however you see fit to pursue that.
I have ordered a camcorder and will try to post a video before the week is over. I will try to be more diligent with my blog post but above all, if you don't hear from me for another spell, know that I am in the pursuit of my own happiness in love, family, and career. Know that I AM a happy soul for 90% of my life and these demons are not winning. Lastly, know that while I have shaped and molded my life on my own I do know that there are people cheering me on and that by doing so you have been such a comfort and reinforcement in all of this.
Keep believing and keep encouraging. With love,
Fat Girl
Monday, June 18, 2012
New Frame of Mine...Pun Intended
It has been a trying six weeks since surgery. I have had revelation after revelation in my personal and professional life and my head spins just to keep up. When I resumed my weight loss surgery journey I never imagined that the actual surgery would be so under whelming but it effects so utterly astounding.
So, when I began my pre-op diet I was 377lbs of beautiful. I have type II diabetes and lost my kidney 3 years ago. As a registered nurse I felt a bit pretentious with my patients, many of whom also struggle with managing diabetes and obesity. It cost me a few thousand and a lot of side eyes and the day seemed like it would never come for me. I began to wonder if I was really supposed to have this surgery. That was my first revelation: I was meant to be something more than what I was.
Now, five, almost six weeks after I am 50lbs lighter and weighing in at 327lbs. I found my way back to church, back to God, and back to family, which means a lot to me but finally is taking a back seat to my own life. Yet another revelation: If I don't put myself first then I won't be happy, only bitter because no one else thinks my happiness is important either.
The latest of these revelations was hurtful and frankly has made me more determined to make the changes in my life faster, wiser, and with more focus on all the things that made me overweight in the first place. A person who I never thought was a good person for my life, who right up until my surgery God was telling me to distance myself from, proved my intuition correct. Feeling threatened by my talent both as a nurse and as a likable person this demon decides to further themselves by throwing dirt on my character at work. They shared my personal facebook status with my director and expressed that I and several co-workers were negative influences to my work environment. Now this person didn't hurt me because I saw it coming. What hurt was that my director, after the four years I've worked for her chose to believe it. I have had repeated compliments from my patients, I have had even more from my coworkers and all the while felt incredibly trapped and depressed in my current position. To sit across from me and tell me I was at risk of "poisoning the floor with my negativity" was a slap in the face.
That night I went home and deleted about 20 of my coworkers. I knew even then that only one was guilty BUT it was the most important revelation to date. I have to let go of false friends and people poisoning MY LIFE. If I had to hover over their face debating and rehashing past encounters or if I didn't know them well enough to be sure then they weren't true friends and I don't want them jeopardizing my future endeavors/blessings.
This past weekend I received confirmation on who the demon was but I'm still keeping it to myself because putting them on Front Street also gives them the power over my life they craved. I am better than that and need to focus on moving forward. In the end, I knew long before the incident that my director didn't respect my talent and feels threatened by my potential. Given that, and her true character, it was not a nurturing environment and was never meant to be my final destination. If I had the confidence I have now I would have never signed on there to begin with and instead continued on to become an Oncology nurse. I can't say I regret the experience though because I have touched the lives of some pretty wonderful people as they have also touched mine. I must chalk it up to a lesson learned and keep it moving.
Continue to pray for me through this total renovation and I will continue to draw strength from all the love and support I can't help but feel.
One love,
Fat Girl
So, when I began my pre-op diet I was 377lbs of beautiful. I have type II diabetes and lost my kidney 3 years ago. As a registered nurse I felt a bit pretentious with my patients, many of whom also struggle with managing diabetes and obesity. It cost me a few thousand and a lot of side eyes and the day seemed like it would never come for me. I began to wonder if I was really supposed to have this surgery. That was my first revelation: I was meant to be something more than what I was.
Now, five, almost six weeks after I am 50lbs lighter and weighing in at 327lbs. I found my way back to church, back to God, and back to family, which means a lot to me but finally is taking a back seat to my own life. Yet another revelation: If I don't put myself first then I won't be happy, only bitter because no one else thinks my happiness is important either.
The latest of these revelations was hurtful and frankly has made me more determined to make the changes in my life faster, wiser, and with more focus on all the things that made me overweight in the first place. A person who I never thought was a good person for my life, who right up until my surgery God was telling me to distance myself from, proved my intuition correct. Feeling threatened by my talent both as a nurse and as a likable person this demon decides to further themselves by throwing dirt on my character at work. They shared my personal facebook status with my director and expressed that I and several co-workers were negative influences to my work environment. Now this person didn't hurt me because I saw it coming. What hurt was that my director, after the four years I've worked for her chose to believe it. I have had repeated compliments from my patients, I have had even more from my coworkers and all the while felt incredibly trapped and depressed in my current position. To sit across from me and tell me I was at risk of "poisoning the floor with my negativity" was a slap in the face.
That night I went home and deleted about 20 of my coworkers. I knew even then that only one was guilty BUT it was the most important revelation to date. I have to let go of false friends and people poisoning MY LIFE. If I had to hover over their face debating and rehashing past encounters or if I didn't know them well enough to be sure then they weren't true friends and I don't want them jeopardizing my future endeavors/blessings.
This past weekend I received confirmation on who the demon was but I'm still keeping it to myself because putting them on Front Street also gives them the power over my life they craved. I am better than that and need to focus on moving forward. In the end, I knew long before the incident that my director didn't respect my talent and feels threatened by my potential. Given that, and her true character, it was not a nurturing environment and was never meant to be my final destination. If I had the confidence I have now I would have never signed on there to begin with and instead continued on to become an Oncology nurse. I can't say I regret the experience though because I have touched the lives of some pretty wonderful people as they have also touched mine. I must chalk it up to a lesson learned and keep it moving.
Continue to pray for me through this total renovation and I will continue to draw strength from all the love and support I can't help but feel.
One love,
Fat Girl
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