Who is in size 14's? This bitch

Recently I have gotten some family pictures taken, so I thought I woudl share with everyone. All I keep hearing is how happy I look and I couldn't agree more. I AM happy. THIS is what it feels like. If I didn't lose another pound I would still die thrilled. That being said, I have been eating like a heifer this past week. I need to get back on track and eat healthy. I have 26 more pounds to go until I reach 100 pounds total lost.

Who's that girl?!

Sorry for the flashed out faces, I haven't quite got the hang of how to take pictures in the mirror, but you get the point:) Smokin' hottie, huh?!

Approaching 4 month post op mark

With my 4 month mark coming up, it's time to get those numbers in. I am proud to say that I have lost 61 pounds in LESS than 4 months. I am feeling great, have unlimited energy, and my confidence is shooting through the roof. I make friends easier and don't feel like I have to be an anti-social shrew. This surgery has changed my life mentally, physically, sexually, and spiritually. It has mended relationships that I wasn't giving my all to and it is giving others the sense that I haven't given up on myself. People have noted that I smile more often and that I seem to be much more of an 'upper' as opposed to my 'everything in life sucks' attitude I had previously. Needless to say, I am loving life, this surgery, and all of the places I am going because of it. Pics to come soon!

NEW MEASUREMENTS!!!

Well now that I am down 45 lbs I figured I would go ahead and do my measurements. I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am with the results! Here they are:
Neck-15.5
Arms-14
Boobs- 39
Waist-43
Butt-42
Thigh-27

With an overall grand total of 34.25 inches lost in 73 days!!! I never thought this would be possible!! I am looking to start P90X and get my work out on!! I pulled out those size 16's today from American Eagle and they fit!! They are even a little loose! I am beyond thrilled, excited, and looking forward to the future! I hope that I can continue to move on the right path. I have the best support team in the world. Thanks for all of the encouragement guys!!

Progress Pictures :)

I dont know if you all can see a difference but there it is, 35 lbs gone. Mentally I feel a lot smaller than I am looking in these pictures, but I know my body will catch up with my mind. I am excited that I am going in the right direction and looking forward to seeing more results!

It's Been A Long Time Comin'

I know it has been a while since I have posted. To update you all, I have hit my 30 pound lost mark!! I couldn't be more excited and I am on a straight and narrow path towards a life of being skinny. Things have been crazy around here. I am gearing up for my first vacation since surgery. I believe it will be like the 'temptation challenges' from the Biggest Loser. We are going to South Carolina to be with the in-laws for a week. With family comes big sit down dinners, going out to celebrate, and drinking. I have had a glass of wine or two here and there within the last week so I know I am good there. I really hope I can control myself when posed with the situation of going out to eat. My biggest fear is getting sick in public. I never quite know how to handle the situation. It always ends up in me looking like an emergency is occuring and then of course everyone has to ask what went wrong. I will do my best to keep positive thoughts in my head and remember the rules.

On to other news, I got a JOB!!! I was just hired as the newest vet technician at a clinic here in Arkansas. I am super excited as I have not worked for 3 years. It will give my daughter the opportunity to gain social skills and give me the chance to have some grown up time. I am also excited about this because I believe it will get me into a routine. Work then gym. I am one of those people that need to have the same schedule everyday to be successful. Being an at home mom/wife kind of just let me do what I want when I wanted it. This job will allow me to just hit the gym on the way home from work and keep a steady schedule. I think only good things can come from this. It will also not allow me to snack all day. I will be posting new pictures of my progress soon. I keep getting compliments that my weight loss is noticed and going well. I love hearing these things as they give me that push and reassurance that I sometimes need. All in all I STILL think this is the best thing I ever did for myself, and I wouldn't change a thing :)

MEASUREMENTS!!!!

As of today- May 9th, 2011- 27 days post op here are my measurements:

Neck 16.25
Arm 16
Boobs 46.5
Waist 44
Booty 44.75
Thigh 24.50

Thats OVER 21 inches lost since my first measurement!!! I am loving my new body so far. I have bought 2 pairs of SHORTS. I haven't worn shorts in over a decade! I have my first post-op appointment tomorrow and I am hoping that the doctor likes the results- I know I do!!

People Come and Go but I Will Forever Be Ali

It was brought to my attention last night that I have changed. Over the night I really thought long and hard if that statement is true. I came to conclusion that it is very true. I am now happy, positive, encouraging and confident. Most people knew me as a sarcastic, miserable, self-hating, debbie downer type of person. I have changed because I know that I can do better than I was, I have changed because I FINALLY care about my life and myself. I refuse to apologize for being happy and finally in the place that I have been supporting everyone else for already being in. I have spent countless hours being happy for everyone else. Numerous conversations of motivation given and encouragement supplied. Now, selfish or not, it is my turn and I will let NO ONE take that from me. If you can't be happy for me being happy then you have no place in my life. For once in my life, I need the cheerleader, I need the motivation, and the pat on the back. I am still sarcastic and I still have my sense of humor but I now I am the Captain of my team and the player as well. I am deciding my future and making things happen. I will not apologize for being me.

Here are my current measurements; eactly 14 days post op:
Neck 16.25
Arm- 16
Boobs-46.50
Waist- 48
Butt- 48
Thigh- 27.75

11 Inches gone!

Strange Things Our Bodies Do

As of today I am 18 days post op. I am on the semi solid diet, being able to eat tuna and pasta. I am looking forward to the day when I can have MEAT! I am a carnivore and I need chicken or beef or SOMETHING! I believe I can start having those foods towards the end of May. It will come soon enough, I am doing everything I can to stick to the plan and follow the rules.

With that being said, I have stopped losing for the past three days. I had gotten worried that my body was trying to say ' Ok, you take it from here'. I have lost 20 lbs so far, and yes, that is amazing. I just want the best results possible. So, after wondering why the hell I hadn't lost for 3 days, I decided to measure myself. Call me Sherlock Holmes because I solved the mystery! Not only have I lost 20 lbs, I have lost 11 inches all over my entire body- mainly in the boob area, but a significant amount in my waist and my neck as well. So just because I wasn't seeing the pounds on the scale, my body was still working hard while partnering with my efforts. It was a definite non-scale victory!!

Not only have I been sticking to the menu plans and taking my vitamins, I went out and purchased a bicycle and a child trailer! Now I have no excuse of not wanting to get up and go to the gym, or not having child care. I can handle business all right here in my neighboorhood with the child in tow. I am looking forward to the bicycle rides and spending quality time with my daughter as well. Only good things can come from this purchase!

The only things I am having troubles with is getting my protein in, consuming all 64 oz of water and not knowing where to go for conversation about the bypass. I am a member of lapbandtalk.com and I am a regular there( ok, I live there) and obviously, everyone has the lapband. When I talk about the side effects of the bypass or what I am dealing with, no one can relate or help me out. I know that there is obesityhelp.com but I have had some pretty negative experiences over there and I am reluctant to go back. I guess I will just have to save my questions for the doc.

I am hoping to keep the success up and stay on the right path. I know it can be hard, there are many times that I just want to snatch the pizza slice out of my husbands hands and trust me, it takes everything in my power not to. I have a new kind of will power this go round. Maybe its because I have faith that this surgery will actually work. Whatever it is, its working, and I am riding on the feel good train.

Day 4 Post Op

First off, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone and their well wishes, prayers, and concerns during my hospitalization. Things are going well and the surgery was successful. I am at home with my family now and trying to get around as best as possible. I will go over the hospital process just to tell you a little bit about what happened.

I arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am and was almost immediately brought back into a room with a bed and was instructed to get undressed, put a gown on and get on the bed. An IV was inserted into my arm and the nurse took my vitals. I had to pee in a cup for a false pregnancy confirmation before surgery. At that point I remained on the bed as the anesthesiologist came in and discussed what he would be doing. Shortly after, what I call the magic medicine, was inserted into my IV and I became very care free and drowsy. The last thing I remember before waking up after surgery, was kissing my husband and my daughter goodbye as they were literally wheeling me down to the OR.

I woke up in a haze hearing the nurse booking my room in the hospital-for some reason I wanted to make sure I remembered the room number-627. I kept repeating it over and over again in my head "627,627, Room 627". Of course, it never presented the need to come up ever again but I knew what my room number was! When I fully woke up out of the haze, I instantly wanted to know where my husband and my daughter were. I wanted to see my only family that I have within a 500 mile radius.

Now, I won't discuss EVERY SINGLE detail of my stay in the hospital, but I will say that for whatever reason, I had complications due to an IV infiltration, I was given a shot of toradol and ativan and was told I was going to have a pic line inserted. I beleive it was due to the fact that I was neglected by the nursing staff ( after contacting them several times) for an hour, due to having no fluid in my IV bag. Other than that, things went according to plan.

The first day after getting out of surgery, I was not allowed anything by mouth, no water or ice--NOTHING. The second day I was eased into ice chips-2 tbsp per every half an hour. The third and final day I was put on a clear sugar free liquid diet-2 tbsp every meal time, and then each hour after that. needless say, it is next to nothing. I do not feel hungry in the least though so I am not stressing out about it yet. I am a little sore on my incision sites but other than that I am up and moving around. I am ready for my workouts to begin and the weight to start coming off. I have never been more relieved to say that I am no longer a bandster, I am a gastric bypasser!!!

Pre-Op Appointments

I just got home from my pre-op testing appointments and I have been cleared for surgery! The doctor didn't even say anything about a pre-op diet, so I was kind of pissed. Anyways, I had to show up this morning at the hospital for my meeting with the dietician. She pretty much went over the things I already knew and had dealt with during the lapband process. She was explaining the menu and using measurements in tablespoons-TABLESPOONS!!! She explained that for the first 6 months I will not get much more than 4 tablespoons in at one sitting. Of course I knew this all along, but the moment SHE said it, felt like a slap in the face. I instantly thought 'How in the hell am I going to get everything I want to eat into 4 TABLESPOONS. Back to my addiction. I might as well have thought ' How much crack can I smoke before someone finds me'.

After my dietician appointment I had to go to SPA testing ( if only it were the GOOD spa), where I had to get arterial blood drawn because of sleep apnea, 5 other vials drawn-pregnancy test, one for blood pressure, and who knows what else, as well as an EKG. They gave me 2 bottles of soap and told me to wash with one tonight and one in the morning and they also gave me one of those breathing machine doodads. When I was done there I went over to my doctor's office-where they were running an hour and a half behind- and he went over the surgery and the risks as well as what he would do if he couldn't do the surgery laproscopically, which would be open bypass. He said he was going to do everything to make this happen and he thought I would do great.

In a nutshell, that was my pre-op visit. I have to report to the hospital at 5:30 am tomorrow morning and my surgery is supposed to start at 7:30. My doctor said it would take close to 2 hours to complete since they had to do a band removal as well as the bypass itself. So I guess here it goes, all or nothing, ready or not- I am about to be a gastric bypass patient.
!

R.I.P the old Ali/ Measurements/ Before Pics/ MOVIN ON

I have been mentioning that I will be taking before pictures to track my progress and to give me motivation. Let me tell you, I have never been so embarassed in my life. I had my husband help me, the husband that I have made babies with, and live with day in and day out, and was absolutely mortified. For every measurement he called the inches out for, I wanted to die a little bit inside.I have been holding off on this part for as long as possible because I do not want people to see me like this. What I fail to realize, is that everyone sees me like this, except for me. I am the only person that doesn't realize my true image. Doing this project tonight threw me over the edge and made me really emotional. It was a slap in the face, and something I never wanted to encounter. Here are my measurements of the 'old Ali'.
Neck-18''
Arms-16 3/2''
Boobs-51 1/2''
Waist-49 3/4''
Butt- 50 1/4''
Thigh- 27 3/4
 May that Bitch rest in peace, and never return. Here are my before pics