10 weeks and another goal met!

Today is 10 weeks post surgery. I'm down to 252 which was one of my goals! I couldn't believe it this morning when I looked at the scale. The last time I weighed 252 was when I went to my 6 week check up after I had Elise. That was the lowest I had been in years. So next up will hopefully be just a short time away at 248 - the weight I was when I first joined Weight Watchers more than 8 years ago. I bought some pants last Friday because they were on clearance for $20 each. I bought size 24 and they were snug. I figured they would last me a while, but I'm thinking now they aren't going to last me long. They are already baggy and I need a belt for them. Happy to be heading downward, but I guess I'll have to buy super snug next time :) Yay!

Almost 10 weeks

This week will be 10 weeks since surgery. This morning I hit 256 so that's 40 pounds since surgery. I'm still in shock over it after my 2 week stint at 264. I'm happy that it's creeping down. Since my highest I've lost 62. And once again, in shock. But very happy with the results. I know it will slow down at some point, but I'm hoping that won't be for at least another year. I was talking with some friends about it on Saturday and I'm so happy I did it. I think at first I wasn't so sure, but I can see that this really is going to help in getting me healthy. Ok, back to the grind at work.

Family Photos

I haven't added pictures of the family in ages and since Natalie showed me how easy it was I thought I would add a few.

This is the only decent picture from Christmas morning.


Jared on a scout campout in Big Bear.


New Years Eve Excitement (it's sparking cider just in case you were wondering).


BBQ with Grandma and Grandpa Pickett


Erik with his sister Rosie at her birthday party in January


Boy Scout hike to the Hollywood sign.


Erik's birthday party in February. Great weekend to be outside.


Elise and friends picking oranges from the trees in our backyard.


So there was the past few months in a nutshell. Now that I know how much easier it is to add pics I'm going to try to do it more often. Plus my baby Elise is adorable and you all should get to see her cute smiling face more often (am I a biased mommy or what!?).

Pics.... I know, I know, finally

So I'm finally out of my stalled funk and down this morning to 260! Hip Hip Hooray! I was thinking about some past milestones that I want to hit again. First is 252, the weight I was at my 6 week checkup after having Elise. Then 248, when I first started Weight Watchers about 8 years ago. Then 223, the weight I was when I quit Weight Watchers 6 months later. Then finally 199, just to be under 200. Then 175, to be the weight I was as a freshman in college. Then my goal of 169. That's the plan. Wish me luck. And now the moment you've all been waiting for..... PICTURES!!!
So the before pics are the day of surgery (my scale at home was 298, but at the hospital it was 296 so I use that one) and the rest are from last night, today marking 8 weeks out! Wish I could do a side by side, but I'm technically challenged.

Stalled

So for the past week I've been stalled at 264. Not sure why or how, but I've decided to make a few changes. I was skipping the protein drinks and eating bars instead. The shakes make me want to barf so I just stopped drinking them. They are horrible and disgusting, but today I decided to just drink the darn things and if I barf then I barf and hopefully that's a few more pounds down the drain. I know it's gross. Sorry. So for now I'm going to eat/drink all the protein I can and try to get all my water in too. I'm walking everyday for 30 minutes and that doesn't seem to be helping either. So I decided that it's time to step on that elliptical that the in-law's gave us and go for at least 5 minutes every day and work my way up to 20. Hopefully this ends the dreaded stall.

Then vs. Now

So it's been 6 weeks since surgery (I know, I know, pics coming soon, very very soon...I promise!). And so far I'm down 32 pounds. But the thing I wanted to share was how much I've changed. At work this week we went out for a team building lunch to an Italian restaurant. I didn't even touch the "fresh baked bread" and olive oil even though I was tempted for a few moments. I ordered chicken with vegetables and it came with pasta. I ate half a piece of chicken, a few bites of the veggies and I was done. In the past I would have had a few pieces of bread and finished the whole plate and then had a food coma the rest of the afternoon.

The same thing happened today when I went out on my lunch break. I had to go to the bookstore and then I had previously decided to go to Jack in the Box for a Chicken Fajita Pita. I ate all of the chicken and a few bites of the pita and I was stuffed. Back in the old days I would have eaten that, plus an order of fries and a soft drink. I couldn't be more pleased with my progress.

I've also had a realization that I can't stand those horrible protein shakes so I eat the bars instead. They have more fat and calories but at least they are staying down and it takes me the whole afternoon to only eat half.

Switching gears, I wanted to say how much I love 2 shows on TV right now. GLEE is hilarious. I loved the "Comeback" episode and was laughing like crazy. The music wasn't all that great, but the writing is amazing. One of the funniest scenes is when Santana is talking about how big Sam's mouth is. Too funny! And the whole Justin Bieber thing was cracking me up. The other show I love is Parenthood. The family dynamics are amazing and the characters feel like they aren't scripted at all. I think they must do some ad libbing there because it just runs so smoothly. Anyway, my $.02. Pics coming shortly!!!

Oh and I forgot one thing. I didn't buy any Girl Scout cookies this year and normally I buy about 10 boxes (not only because they are good, but because I was a GS for so many many years I know how it feels to not sell any). So my co-worker had an extra box. I bought it and it's been sitting unopened in my desk drawer for the whole week. And it's Thin Mints! Talk about progress :)

4 week update

So I had surgery 4 weeks ago today. This morning I weighed in at 271. So that makes 25 pounds lost in the last 4 weeks and 47 pounds total since my highest ever. I can't believe that it's actually working. I had a stall there for a while and I've been in the 270's for a few weeks so I just kept thinking 'why did I do this again?' So now I only have 102 pounds to go. Wow that still seems like a ton, but at least it's not 150 pounds like it was last summer.

I found a new protein shake that is a little lighter than the one I had been drinking so it's helped me get a little more protein in. Plus I can get it at GNC and they have a bunch of different flavors so that will help take away the awful taste of chocolate I've had for the past month.

In other cool exciting news I get to take the online Jeopardy test tonight. I know I'm gonna suck, but it will still be fun to see if I can make it to the next round. I really want to go to the Wheel of Fortune tryouts on Sunday but I have no one to go with me, so I guess I'll have to wait until next time :(

I promise I will take some pics of me and post my before and after. I don't think I have any from last summer, but I have the day of surgery and I'll take some from today and see if there is any differences. I really should start taking my measurements too just to see if those are changing. I assume they are because most of my pants don't fit well these days. Guess I'll just have to go shopping :)