Haters Gonna Hate

Remember when I told you that people will have negative things to say about the surgery, but most of what they say shouldn't matter to you. Believe me.

So-called family members will be the worst critics, and if you come from a family with a lot of obese people in it, they'll deliberately try to derail your success or be hyper-critical of you because they are jealous. Such is the case with my 36-year-old, thumb-sucking, morbidly obese, pregnant at 16, abandoned her eldest daughter only to have a second child (just in case we didn't already know that motherhood is not her forté,) ex-felon cousin. This week she let me know that no one cared about my blog, which we all know isn't true because you have to read about it to even know what's going on with my surgery/results; I had a hearty laugh at her expense. Moving on.

Those of you that have read, posted encouragement, or posed questions from how to get approved or how to navigate the approval process, keep it up! I'm more than happy to share my experience with you. So, about my progress:

I haven't weighed myself in the past several weeks because I flew to Washington to attend a family women's weekend (against my better judgment.) Because it's a vacation, I have been eating whatever I want, WITHIN REASON. I'm still avoiding dairy, or taking Lactaid™ before having any dairy, still trying to eat my protein, and eating my protein first. All of that is standard. Has anyone ever explained why bypass patients are advised to take in at least 60g of protein daily? It is because the average adult must get around 26-30g a day, but due to the malabsorption aspect of the surgery, a bypass patient must get twice as much protein to "break even," and maintain bodily operations, maintain muscle, et cetera.

Though I haven't weighed myself in weeks, I would estimate that I have now lost 90 pounds. To recap, my surgery was January 13, 2014 and so in less than a year, I've lost almost 100 lbs. Because August is my birth month, on the anniversary of my surgery, I'll post a bikini progress pic. I can't believe that I can finally wear a bikini and give no f*cks (not that I ever did.) The purpose of that progress pic is to show you all, without being in my bra and panties, things like scars, stretch marks, and excess skin. My scars are healing so well, they're even beginning to fade, my stretch marks look more like I'd been pregnant than fat, and there really isn't a large amount of excess skin. I think that I have said, however, that everyone is different. I'm not worried about my abdomen at this point because I haven't had children yet, so my tummy has more stretch marks to add to the tally sheet before too much longer! Which reminds me: I have a family history of PCOS, and I was recently prescribed Metformin to regulate my cycles that used to work like clockwork before my weight skyrocketed about 1.5 years ago. So I'll keep you all updated about Metformin and what side effects, if any, I experience.

I have been eating seafood like crazy. I'm lucky that shellfish is my favorite type of meal. Lunch today was mussels and it was amazing. After your surgery, you'll really want to monitor your portion sizes. I can't stress that enough. Trick your mind into thinking you're eating more food by using a small plate. If you use a dinner plate, you'll find yourself loading it up with food and feeling guilty when you can't finish it or you'll try and force yourself to finish that food so you don't waste it.

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