The Faces of Me

Tomorrow-June 1st, marks my 3 month anniversary since surgery....and I am 54lbs lighter than where I started!

So far things have been pretty quiet and I've been lucky-no major problems, only a few minor bumps along the way. I am still trying to adjust to the types of food I can eat and I'm learning what sits well and what doesn't. For example, a friend of mine made an amazing salad a couple of weeks ago....spinach, strawberries, feta cheese and an awesome raspberry vinaigrette...I was determined to make it myself! I went and got all the ingredients and ended up eating it three days in a row. That was a MAJOR "no-no". I guess my new little tummy couldn't break down the spinach good enough and it caused some of the worst gas pains I've ever had. It took almost two days to feel "normal" again after that. So, no more spinach for me!

Another issue I've had is my hair starting to fall out. I read all these horror stories before I had surgery of people loosing their hair, having bald spots, hair never growing back, etc....and I thought to myself..."Nah, that won't happen to me" HA! I was wrong! Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have any big bald spots but the amount of hair that I'm loosing on a daily basis is sickening and enough to make me panic. I can feel how thin my hair is getting and I am constantly cleaning hair off of everything....My doctor says its normal, and I'm sure it is, but that still doesn't mean that I have to like it! He gave me some tips...like upping my multivitamin, start taking Biotin (which is the main ingredient in hair, skin and nail vitamins), limit the amount of washing/brushing I'm doing and make an effort to not mess with my hair if I can help it. I know it will stop eventually, I just hope it's sooner rather than later....I would not be very pretty if I were bald, ya know! ;)

I remember my doctor telling me that there was going to come a time when my mind had to catch up to my body. Well that time has come! This past weekend while I was in VA of  friends and I took some pictures together. I got home and looked through the pictures and I had a few moments of panic...I feel as if I look sickly, like my face is too thin, that I don't look like myself....This must be what he was talking about. I don't feel as if the person I'm looking at  is the person I've always known. Sure, I feel better about myself, but when I look at these pictures, I feel like I look sick...like I don't look "right".

Here's a picture of me from October 2011-
(Look how little my muffin was too!! lol)

And here's one from this past weekend-



A few weeks ago I had my last visit with my surgeon until the end of September. He praised my progress and actually asked me if at my year mark I'd want to be used for some marketing for the office! How cool is that?! :) He said that I am the only gastric sleeve patient that he's ever had that's had such a rapid and healthy weight loss in such a short amount of time. He said if I keep up, I'll end up being around 140-150lbs by next summer! I thought that was pretty neat! I mean, sure I have to stay on top of my diet and make sure I'm following the guidelines but otherwise, it's happening with minimal effort on my part.

With time I will get used to it and I think a lot of it right now is just the initial shock of really seeing myself as being smaller....It's been a long time since I've been this size and even though I still have a long way to go before I'm where I want to be...I'm a lot closer than I was February 29th! :)