Happy Monday, All!

I had another mad dash last week that almost wasn't as successful as the one last Friday. Thankfully, the shuttle driver was nice enough to wait a few extra minutes for me. I drank my fluid and ate my protein and walked last week, and ended up with a recent low. Unfortunately, I had ham for Easter dinner so I held on to just enough fluid to not be at that weight this AM for my "official" weigh-in. Still, I've banished another 1.2# this week and that's still awesome.

My semester is winding down and I have a LOT left to get done this week. I've got a reader's response paper to do for IS 572 then the final assignment in our semester-long user-centered evaluation and assessment for IS 554. Then I have to edit the returned assignments for 554 and convert them to web pages to upload them to the class's website. Fun times. Unless I've totally miscalculated (which is entirely possible), I should earn an A for both classes. If I don't get that in 554, it shouldn't be any lower than an A- or B+. So, life is good regarding my GPA. :-)

As soon as the term ends, which is technically Friday regarding when I have to be "in class", I'm going to start my serious get-to-the-gym, get-lots-of-cardio workout routine. I have a goal to get under 200 before the end of June, and I really want to meet that goal as long before 06/30 (my 6-month appointment) as I can. :-)

Speaking of appointments... I got an EOB from my insurance company a couple of days ago. For some reason, they've denied the claim for my last appointment with my surgeon saying that the condition for which I was seen is excluded in my policy. That means that, according to the EOB, I'll have to pay the full cost of the visit. I'm not going to worry about it until I actually get a bill from the surgeon's office, but that's annoying. I suppose I should call and find out why the hell they've decided not to pay for my follow-ups. I expect it is something like WLS is covered if pre-approved and I was on a different insurance when I had the surgery so BCBS didn't approve the surgery and thusly won't pay for follow ups or something equally as stupid. *sigh* Thankfully, it's only $100 and it's only every 3 months. I guess we'll just have to see how it comes out in the wash. *grr*

I told DH that I'd be working my sleeve even harder now because I definitely want to get my money's worth out of the appointments. :-)

A new week, a new decade!

Thankfully, I managed to get to the bus and to work without the Keystone Kops-ian mad dash of Friday. Though I was doing some thinking about it... I've been trying to figure out how to get in an additional walk on the days I have class and that might be the key. I will, however, actually -plan- for it so that I have enough time to ensure that I get to the trolley/transit station in plenty of time to catch the shuttle. Failing to plan is just planning to fail, as it were. This summer, my classes are on Tuesday/Thursday, so I'll ponder walking in the AM. It'll be a bit cooler then, anyway, which just makes life easier all around. :-)

Thanks in part to the mad dash (and thanks to staying on program by getting my protein, fluid and exercise), I've banished an additional 2.2# this week. I now have less than 80# before I'm at goal! I see my Ob/Gyn on Thursday, and I really wanted to be under 230 at that appointment. I am hopeful that her scale with cooperate and show me as under 230 like my scale at home does. We are rapidly approaching the smallest I've been since I started at this job/got married 15 years ago. In 2007, when I lost a bunch of weight on Weight Watchers, I got down to 220. Give me a week or three and I'll stroll right on past that and do my happy Woofie dance. :-)

My current goal peice is a suit that I was gifted in 2007. It's a 16W and I thought I'd try on the skirt this weekend, as a gauge. I can get it on and zipped, but it's too tight to even sit down in, so I'd definitely NOT leave the house. Still, the fact that I can even get it on is amazing. I went through a bunch of clothes this weekend that I'd had bagged up, and now I have some more that I can actually wear. :-) It's so much fun going shopping in my own closet.

I've already walked for 20 minutes this morning and plan an hour this afternoon, weather and allergies permitting. Have a great week, everyone!

My Wild Morning, or Why I ♥ my Sleeve

I had a wild morning. I woke up a little later than I should have, but got up and got ready to leave the house -mostly- on time. I wended my way to my bus stop, only to see my bus drive by my stop as I was coming down the hill. As you might imagine, the air around me was colored several different shades of blue. I looked at the time and saw it was 6:49AM. To put this in perspective, that meant that I needed to get from where I was then standing to the downtown transit hub where I catch my work shuttle in 31 minutes. Could I do it? Let's find out!

6:49AM I curse up a blue streak but then put on my big girl panties and haul ass to get to the nearest trolley stop because the next bus will be too late for me to catch my shuttle, which only leaves one time/day from the hub. The traffic light gods must have not been happy with me because I caught every single red light I could catch between my street and the trolley stop, which meant I needed to walk/jog part of the way (I'm glad I wore my trainers today). As I approached the stop, I saw the trolley pulling up to the light before the turn and I had to hurry to make sure that I got to the stop before it did.

7:05AM I catch the trolley and try to re-learn how to breathe. ;-)

7:11AM I get to the stop nearest (still two blocks away) the transit hub. As I crested the hill, I saw the shuttle van parked in front of the building. Thankfully, the rest of the trip was downhill.

7:20AM I stepped onto the van and caught my breath. The driver had needed to take a phone call, so we didn't end up pulling off until 7:23, but I still made it on time!!!

The moral of this story is that I would physically not have been able to do this before surgery. I was carrying around entirely too much extra weight to handle the short bursts of speed I required today. I would also still be trying to catch my breath. :-) I totally ♥ my Sleeve!

In other exciting news, I'm at the lowest weight I've been in over three years. Even if I don't hold it on Monday, I'll know I've gotten here and know that I'll be here soon enough. Who knows, though? I might run off some more between now and Monday. ;-)

What a wild weekend

To begin with, I had the "is my body taunting me?" to deal with. The answer to that question is no, no it wasn't. :-) It was an actual, albeit short, period. But the hormonal surge gave me a migraine that lasted about four days. :-( Thankfully, both the period and migraine are in the past and I am left with an actual woosh on the scale. I've banished another 2.2# and the NSV for the week is that I'm actually wearing the 18Ws I'd tried on & were snug, as they actually fit! *boggle*

DH & I celebrate 15 years of being married tomorrow! I'm now officially 40# lighter than I was at surgery and I'm almost 71# lighter than my high. Life is good.

My Body is Taunting Me (Possible TMI)

I've posted a few times about the glory that is menstrual irregularity, particularly post-op. I've got a few whammies going for? me in that regard, on top of being post-op. I have hypothyroidism, PCOS and I've just gotten off the Pill after nearly 15 years. So, yeah, my poor body doesn't know what the hell to think. Then I threw the copious estrogen dump that happens during rapid weight loss into the mix. So, I suppose it's not fair to be mad at my body when it taunts me with PMS-like symptoms without the payoff in the form of an actual period. Maybe it's not fair, but I'm testy anyway. You know why? Cuz I'm hormonal, that's why. :-) Hopefully my body will get it's act together and actually let me do more than spot heavily this month. I guess we'll see. I do go see my Ob/Gyn in a couple of weeks, so hopefully we can get to the bottom of it. Is it just my body getting back in synch after 15 years of medically-regulated "periods"? Is it the hormonal soup of BCP, low thyroid, PCOS and being post-op? Or do I have the grand and glorious world of perimenopause/menopause to explore? Inquiring minds want to know. ;-)

Needless to say, life is full of special specialness right now.

The scale is my friend today!

As I've mentioned, I weigh myself every day but only record my weight on my "official" weigh-in day, Monday. I chose Monday because I had my surgery on Monday so it keeps my statistics cleaner and it keeps me more accountable on the weekends. That being said, it's always nice to get on the scale and see a new recent low, even if it's not "official". :-) So, I'm going to keep pushing and see if I can get it even lower by Monday.

I've been eating about every 2.5-3 hours to keep my furnace stoked and I've been walking as much as I can, but at LEAST 20 minutes daily. I'm going to go Friday and get new shoes because I can really tell that the ones I've been wearing need to be replaced. Given the amount of walking I'm doing, I need to budget to replace my shoes a LOT more frequently than I have in the past. :-) I don't know if I'll be able to do it, but my current plan is to train for the half-marathon next March/April (I'm sure of the date) here in K-ville. I'll be walking it rather than running it, but I'd like to see if I can work up to running a 5K by my birthday in October. I'll just have to see what my knees and hip will put up with after schlepping around this extra weight for so long.

Hope everyone is well and that Spring has sprung where you are.