Phit-N-Phat...Making Fitness and Weightloss a Lifestyle

My Planning and Why

I'm starting this with my plan for the week. Last week I said I needed to get back to my old behaviors so that's what I'm going to kick off with today. Some positive planning, structure, and accountability. You really can't beat any of that when you are living the lifestyle.

EXERCISE

Monday - finished a hard 4 mile tempo run on the treadmill
Tuesday - back/shoulders/abs and 30 min. of cardio (new routine learned at Phat Camp that is wicked)
Wednesday - Long Run of 7-8 miles
Thursday - chest/legs/arms hour circuit
Friday - 3 miles and ab circuit 20 min.
Saturday - EZ 5K in the morning with Logan and Warrior Dash in the afternoon
Sunday -

I'm using some routines from Phat Camp for the cardio and the strength is my own stuff this week. Today I ordered Chalene Extreme and I think I'm going to follow that program a bit to free up planning for myself.

FOOD

Went to the store yesterday after driving back from Dayton PC early in the morning. Here's what I planned for myself starting tomorrow because today I winged it and will be prepping tonight. I had to work, therapy, and lots of other things so tonight it is.

Breakfast - 3/4 cup of oats with cinnamon, truvia, and almond extract and 8 egg whites with ketchup OR 2 pcs of EZ toast with ICBINB and 8 egg whites.

Snack - Shakeology and 1/3 cup of pumpking seeds

Lunch - roughy cooked in coconut oil, mixed fajita style peppers and onions, and 4-6 oz of sweet potato (strength days I'll do 6)

Snack - apple with two carb master yogurts

Dinner - Skinny Chicken and Dumplings, Spag Sauce with Laura's Lean beef over a bag of steamer vegetables, OR chicken fajita mix (no rice for me) on top of big salad

Snack - 12 oz of red wine OR shakeology and an apple OR 100 cal bag of popcorn (wine or snack but not both this week)

On a high day that equals about 2100 calories and a lower day (choosing lower options) it's about 1800. I also have some baby carrots, celery, and bananas to add in case I'm hungry. It's filled with stuff I like and I should be able to maintain fine with this.

I also have plans to have go out to eat three times this week! I know two are Ruby Tuesday so that's easy. The other I will know ahead of time and make plans. My goal for this week is to stay off BLT's, stay on plan, and be aware of my hunger. Assess if I'm hungry or just stressed.

PERSONAL

This weekend I was at Phat Camp Dayton and it was great. I love the workouts because they scale them to fit everyone's level. Women who look just like I did six years ago show up to these camps and I hope when they see me they have hope it's possible. I respect them so much for showing up and giving it their all. When I weighed 250lbs I wouldn't have had the guts to do it, let alone, push myself to try working out in a new way.

The majority of the women at camp were just starting out or trying to figure out where to go with exercise and getting in shape. As we were in the seminar portion of the camp, so many of the women started asking questions that had plagued me back in the days of losing weight.

One woman was worried about loose skin on her tummy. I just couldn't help it but I had to comment that for some of us the skin is NOT going to bounce back. I was honest with them that once that elasticity goes it's gone. Some women do have great genes and no matter what kind of weight gain they have with pregnancy they'll get it back with hard work. But, A LOT of us with past battles with obesity WON'T.

Jen asked me to show my Tummy Tuck scar and she said, "Well, that's not so bad." I promptly said you haven't seen the REAL scars from the lower body lift. LOL. I pulled half my pants down and showed the women what I had to do to fix my past. I even took the time to explain what it has meant to me, personally.

I spent years trying everything to fix my skin issues. I still try! At four years of maintenance and work I knew it was time for surgery. Today, with the loose skin that is STILL left after six years I have learned I need to live with it. Y'all know everyday I work on self-acceptance, but what I was hoping they would see is a woman who can kick butt in workouts who used to sit on her butt letting life kick her.

That's the awesome thing about Jen Hendershott's Phat Camps and my own PNP Meet-ups at events; we all can work together towards a better lifestyle. Some of us are in the beginning. They need the help to get started on the right path and who better to give back than women who have been there.

And there are others there, too. We had a couple of figure girls, a few women who love endurance events, a mom of 8 kids who has no time and little money for clean food, girls with no kids just starting out in adult life and women who are hitting the boomer years. It's amazing when you attend events with me because I can promise you there will be women with all kinds of stories yet a lot of commonality in trying to find the balance while losing weight.

OK...so that was all about camp. I decided on Saturday that it was important for me to leave Sunday morning EARLY and miss the last day. Logan had his first cross-country match and I wanted to be there. Something told me I had to be there but not for the reasons I thought.

We went and the baby wasn't feeling too hot to begin with. He's got a little cold but seemed OK to go. He wanted to! We arrived and it was a MADHOUSE. 100's of kids and parents everywhere. It was like organized confusion.

Because he's a 3rd grader we waited for our turn in the hot sun for about 45 min. to an hour, I think. He stretched and seemed fine until we lined up. We had to wait 15 min. on the line and that's where his nerves kicked in. He said his legs shook. We hugged tight trying to get the adrenaline out.

When they sounded the horn he ran the field, hit the track then just started walking. I could see he was shutting down. It was too much. I ran to the side (coach's can be on the field) and tried to get him to run. When he started melting down I backed off hoping if he had no outlet (me) he would keep going. No. Some sweet kids and another mom ran to him and cheered him on. Nice as it was I could see his face was striken with too much stimulation.

At that point I walked with him and we ended up leaving. He started throwing a mild fit; my worst nightmare because I don't want this friends at school to see him THAT way.

Other things happened but I tried to keep my composure and help him learn from it. We processed the day 2-3 times. I wanted him to completely understand that I understood WHY he was frustrated and didn't like it, that I was proud of him for trying, that it was OK to not want to race, but throwing a fit and not using your words to express your emotions isn't acceptable. THAT was hard for me. I had to find a way for him to understand he was in time out for tantrums and not for his inability to process a big event. I was so worried he would think I was mad and punishing him for not running.

In the end he got it. I know he did. I've thought a lot about it, too. It may sound insane but God uses these times to help us. I remember blogging a long time ago that I had to go through years of being fat, bullied, and miserable to even have the ability to help my clients. Same thing with Logan. We have to believe that these tough moments are meant to be so that one day in the future when it REALLY matters he will succeed, try, not quit, or know how to leave something the right way.

It's so ironic that my phrase "Last place is the girl on the couch," the mantra of PNP, plays so well with my child. Being in last place means you were a part of something. It means you were brave enough to try. I have to give it to Logan. That boy might not like a lot of what we make him do but he shows up and attempts things.

I told him we weren't quitting Cross Country. He enjoys practice. I enjoy coaching the girls. We'll keep going and each meet we can decide if we want to race or if we want to cheer on our friends. Either way WE'RE a part of something. That was the goal and we CAN DO THAT.

I do admit that it's hard with the food and exercise to not just go crazy lately. I'm not always perfect but I'm doing the best I can. It's what I preach to my girls. If I'm not eating perfect you bet I'm tracking calories to keep it honest.

That's why I'm planning and posting, being honest and blogging. It's not always roses but I've learned to have a lifestyle means you gotta fight through the tough times and enjoy the good ones. I know what foods to not have around, I know some days I need to schedule a workout with someone so that it will get done, and I know there are times I have to ask my husband to question my food choices when I'm not willing to do it.

It's how I handle maintenance. When I'm strong I intuitively eat. When I'm worked up like a maniac it's time to go on a plan and turn off thy brain. These days a little silence in my head, an app to track my calories, and a piece of paper with a plan is a good thing.



First One Down...Two To Get Better

My first competition is OVER! What a weekend. It was a lot of fun but man I am sooo tired! Now I have two weeks to get a little better before Chattanooga.

To be honest I've had a lot of fat girl thinking swirling in my head since the show. With all the weightloss, the surgery, the work, the dieting...I still have issues. It was a little overwhelming yesterday as a I needed to get rehydrated and rested from the show.

What is bothering me, I suppose, is that there is no "sign or pamphlet" that says how hard I've worked. Each girl steps on stage with her own unique story. Only me and my supporters know what it takes for me to be on stage.

Some of the girls have always been into fitness. They have worked HARD for years and years and it shows with a beautiful physique. Others have great genetics and they've been able to capitalize on it in the gym. While there are also girls who have worked hard and had good results by being consistent.

Then there's me. I am athletic, fit, work hard, teach others how to do it, lost 115lbs, had major surgery to fix some issues AND still look mediocre at best next to the others. It doesn't bother me to look mediocre; it bothers me that I waste any energy on FGT worrying what people think about my body. FGT is never worth losing one second of your life over and I know that more than anyone. I might have started the day with FGT but by the evening I let it go and enjoyed myself. It showed in my pictures, too. Lesson learned for Chattanooga.

Don't ask me why I choose to do sports I will never excel at and that put on public display my past sins. All I can say is that I love standing on stage and the year round process it takes to have that day where you show the world what you accomplished over the past year.

The ultimate test for me is truly being satisfied with the statement "Last place is the girl on the couch." Walking around in clothes I feel and look great. Walking on stage exposes me and my body to an auditorium of people to pick apart my physique. Not easy.

So, after reflection the last couple of days I've realized that even if I am the worst looking girl up there...I am UP THERE. I'm lucky to have the guts, determination, and dedication to do this sport. I may never dig my way out of last but that is reserved for someone who wants to keep sitting back letting life pass her by. I did that for 30 years and I can say that I will never be that person again.

I am done with FGT and thankful for a supportive husband, a great friend to do this sport with, and Tony and Valerie who have worked with me for three years helping me look as great as a I feel.

I really want to thank my friends Bill and Lorie, too, who came from AR to see me compete. Lorie really summed it up and put things into perspective for me. She asked me if I ever thought I would look like this in my life. NO! I need to remember that this body I "stress" right now is absolutely what I would have considered just a few short years ago IMPOSSIBLE. Flaws and all I am living that life I always dreamed about. Now it's simply time to work harder and enjoy the last three weeks I have until it's time to work on 2011!

Tales From the Scale

Tuesday I will be weighing in for the first time in a couple of weeks. I'm taking measurements, pics, weighing and using this as feedback on what I'm doing in the kitchen and in the gym.

My goal is to change my outlook on body image success. For a long time I've struggled with wanting to weigh certain numbers even if it meant I didn't look as good. I am also SO COMMITTED to truly building some nice legs. I may not like the scale during this process but it's important to keep my end goal in mind.

Chris took these pictures last night (don't ask why we were posed out on a bench), and it's the first time I've seen a shot of my legs where I couldn't believe they were on my body. I also included my favorite shot of my new HAIR!

Building a good set of legs might make the scale go wonky. I have to DEAL WITH IT. That's why I am weighing once a month AND learning that anything worth having is worth suffering to get!

In my maintenance phase it's been the hardest obstacle. It's harder than food, showing up to the gym, and anything else. While losing weight it's all about the numbers...right? In maintenance it's all about the mirror and learning to be happy with how you look and not some shrinking number.

When you add in tweaking your physique you have to learn to put the big picture in the front of your mind. You don't have the luxury of worshiping the scale alter. If you do, you GET NOWHERE and have the same ole body with the same ole complaints.

Tomorrow I will post a video of my accountability system and organizing so that I stay on top of my goals. I talked about it last week and spent the last few days getting my butt in gear.

Now for an old blog. It was written in 2007. Seems like things never change. LOL

http://phit-n-phat.com/blogs/phit-n-phat/archive/2007/10/17/oh-the-scale-is-terrible.aspx

Help Prevent Loose Skin While Losing Weight

Lord knows after losing 110lbs I've done a ton of research on loose skin. There's a lot to it and this post is about what to eat and do while you LOSE weight so you will have the least amount of damage at the end.

Unfortunately, I waited too long to start a lot of this and that's why I've had plastic surgery to get to the latest eight week post op pics. I'm not ashamed for taking this route of surgery; I am ashamed it took me 30 years before waking up and doing something about my health! For those who are knew to my blog - I worked five years at trying to tighten up and then went to my wonderful plastic surgeon for help.

You can see I still got some swelling going on and that is supposed to only last SIX MONTHS! I've have patience though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These days, I practice a lot of the suggestions I'm giving you because I do have pockets of skin left. Not much but I am all about doing all I can to make things as tight as possible. This blog I discussed things like exfoliation, vitamins, etc.

Strength Training: Girls this is your number ONE defense against loose skin. Cardio queens you are simply eating muscle away and not burning off fat. ST is what burns the max calories in your body and gives your body shape. Do enough of just cardio and you will find yourself a big mess of loose skin and you will wonder why you look FAT at goal weight.

In the two photos below I weighed 145lbs, 140lbs and today I weigh 140lbs. It took me a lot of wasted hours to rebuild what I could have done while losing weight. 

 

My 5 In 45 Minute Workouts will help you. I have beginner and intermediate versions. I also have a GREAT Treadmill Bootcamp for those who need the cardio and strength combined in the same session.

Foods: EAT THIS WITH YOUR DIET!

I can't say enough about eating healthy foods. It makes me feel good and it makes me PROUD to see what good I am doing my body. It wasn't always the case in my weightloss and since cleaning up my act I can attest my skin, muscles, and face look 100% better.

Your most important foods based on what they do for clarity and elasticity:

Omega 3 Fatty Acids: Your body needs the oils to help the skin build more collagen and to keep tight. It also helps keep whiteheads and blackheads at bay! Add things like walnuts, pecans, almonds, salmon, flax seed, chia seeds, and fish oil caps to your daily intake.

Silica: Silica is a trace mineral that strengthens the body's connective tissues and is vital for healthy skin. Silica deficiency can result in reduced skin elasticity and can hamper the body's ability to heal wounds. Food sources of silica include leeks, green beans, garbanzo beans, strawberries, cucumber, mango, celery, asparagus and rhubarb.

Water: You got to drink it!!!!

Some other foods that are good to add in your menus simply for their skin elasticity properties: spinach, berries, artichoke hearts, kale, collard greens, broccoli, corn, and egg yolks.

LOSE SLOWLY!

I know we all want our body TOMORROW, but losing slow with strength training WILL HELP you the MOST to love what you end up with. Honestly, most of us will have loose skin. If you have stretch marks you will. It's the price you pay for pleasure today.

Just keep in mind you can minimize it some. 50 extra pounds is a lot harder to hide than 10lbs of loose skin. Good luck and ask me questions. I'm an amazing resource for what it is like to be on the other side of a lifetime of fat.

Two Weeks Post Surgery Update

It's been two weeks since my butt lift, thigh lift, and tummy tuck. I would recommend it to anyone. Here's a few things I've learned in the past two weeks and just general comments for the next girl considering the surgery.

1. Start taking a stool softner as soon as you get to your room or home. It just makes life easier. The sedation and meds will lock you down and restarting is tough. It's better to just make it easy because you won't have the abs to "push" when needed.

2. Cough drops are a must. You will never appreciate how often you cough and clear your throat until your belly explodes when you do it.

3. Diet Sprite goes a long way to "scratching" your throat when needed and settling your tummy. I drink about one a day over the course of the day. Even now my tummy rolls a little when I take my meds and the sprite just helps settle it.

4. Sugarfree Lemon Jello is my friend. For some reason I love it and the citrus makes me happy. This might just be me but I do have a serving a day. Besides, Jello actually has some amino acids in it for muscle retention that you can't get in any other food source. Eat up.

5. I use an old neck tie of my husband's to pin my drains on when I shower. You can pin the drains to the necktie and put it around your neck to shower comfortably. You can also lay it on the bed while you towel off and dress without juggling drains.

6. Walk, walk, walk even if you don't love it. I think getting up and just forcing myself into moving has made the difference for me. I'm at two weeks and I only take pain meds (1 pill) before bed and then again in the middle of the night just to rest comfortably. I've been doing that for almost a week now. I've been able to just do Tylenol every four hours outside of that.

7. Eat pineapple. It helps with the swelling. I eat a serving and later I can tell the swelling is going down some.

8. Plan your meals like you would before surgery. I'm a big believer in feeding the body good. This whole time I've been working hard eating plenty of fruits and veggies. I have continued to cook and prep up simple things that are clean and good for me. The worst thing for recovery is to eat junk just because you don't feel good. It will only make you fat (and hey, I didn't have this surgery to get fat again) and you will have to break the habit once you get moving. Think of it like pregnancy. The habits you establish while pregnant are the same ones you will carry into post-baby.

9. Plan "workouts". By this I mean plan to have structured walks each day. I can't really workout but I can certainly get in timed, slow walks several times a day. Makes you feel like you are in control and that you are actively doing things to get better other than resting. The other great thing is that these walks will help build a stamina base for when you get back to exercise. If you do nothing those first couple of weeks back in the gym will be terrible. Trust me, the walks won't be a lot of fun. I'm usually sore, swollen, and achy halfway through but I do it so I can keep my body moving forward. Too much rest and you don't challenge the body enough. Walking is what gets your mind clear, fluids pushing through, and the poopie regular. :)

10. Do not fall in  love with your body the first few days. I looked better at two days than I do at 14 days. The swelling is HUGE. I weigh less but can't wear clothes I wore prior to surgery. You have a new body and it takes a few weeks for things to really release and settle in. My legs sometimes look bigger than before surgery because of the fluids. Some days one leg is much bigger than the other leg.

My booty is VERY LARGE compared to before. It has a lot of "packing" in there that was built with my own skin to give me a nice shelf booty. Right now it is hard as rocks and swollen. It's SORE. It's normal, too. You will be on your back a few weeks and it will look lumpy and strange. It's nothing to worry about. That is a ton of trauma and it takes weeks for the body to quit storing water and collecting fluids. Until then, you will have to appreciate the trouble to have a nice backside.

11. With a tummy tuck it is VERY NORMAL for you lower abs to be numb and flat as a pancake. Your upper abs will be swollen and hang over the lower abs. You have a lot of muscle in the upper half that are sewn together and, again, the body stores water where it needs to heal. It might be months for that phenomenon to stop. Don't think your surgery was a failure or that you are overeating. It's just the way the tummy heals.

12. Your clothes probably won't fit. Even though I'm smaller on the scale, the water I'm holding in all the surgical areas have me bigger in clothes size. Sounds strange but a lot of tissue was removed and a lot of water is taking it's place. I have pants that won't fit that did before surgery because my booty is so much bigger right now. That's OK. Dress comfy and know your size will be determined after about two months.

13. The scale. You can't put a lot of faith in it. I weigh less today and at two weeks I've leveled off on losing. I was losing about .5 lb a day from my pre-surgery weight. I will blog more on this because I'm not sure where the weight will settle in at. I had a little over 6lbs total removed after they added back in tissue to my behind. I went in at 150 and today was 143. This is why tracking what you eat matters. You don't want to diet but you want to eat maintenance calories on the low end because you aren't moving a lot. I'm 5'6 and I'm eating around 1800 calories a day to maintain. If I was exercising I would maintain at 2200 calories a day easy.

14. Don't think you made a mistake. I felt that way when I had my breasts done and this time I expected the Frankenstein look at week two. You see, you are looking crazy but you feel like more than two weeks has passed. You still can't do much but feel you should be further along. It's normal to look wild, feel helpless, and wonder what you did. Just know that 99% of the people who go through this LOVE their results and you will too. Two weeks is nothing. Four weeks is nothing. You are in it for the long haul just like me. It will take six months of healing and changing to really appreciate the final results. Look forward to the time in recovery when you can work on what you want through exercise while your body also heals itself.

That's my two week advice. I'm feeling good. My stamina is decent. I'm used to being super active and the hardest thing for me is to slow down. That is the tough part. My body feels pretty good, I'm way ahead of healing schedule, and will start lifting again next week. I'll be blogging the modified workouts on my other site - Women's Anti Sofa League.

For this week I'm focused on 30 min. slow paced walks, working on PNP, and keeping myself in bed with feet elevated so that the booty can continue to heal. :)

And, for the curious... this is some afters. Yes, I'm showing my ass for all to see and even those high school buddies from Facebook. Ugh. But, this is me and I want people to see that this is the price I had to pay for years and years of not taking care of myself. I'm not sad but I beg you twenty-somethings to change your ways now while you still have the skin elasticity to recover from dramatic weightloss! For you moms...get your act together so your kids won't be a Corinne one day. You are setting the tone with how YOU eat.

Rear Shot: My bum as lots of lumps and such but those will smooth out. Some it is where the drains were and they "collapsed" that area temporarily. As the weeks go on you will see it look more like a regular tushie. You can also see a couple of places where scar lines are moving around which will settle in too. The best part of the backside is how smooth my legs are now. I love it! You can't see from this picture how loose they really were but in person the changes are DRAMATIC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Side Shot: You can see from the side shot where the upper abs are holding fluids. Very normal at this stage. And, it gets more pronounced as the day goes along because the more you move the more you hold recovery fluids. Just know you will make a lot of potty at night! The side shot shows more how tighter I am now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Front Shot: You can see my legs are smoother but they are holding a good bit of fluids. Man, I had a good tan prior to surgery! You see a lot more visual change in person. 

OK...that's my novel on what two weeks has been like. I will give another good update when there are more changes. Feel free to post questions and ask me anything. As ya'll know, I ain't got nothing to hide.

One Week Post Plastic Surgery

I went to the doctor today and got a great check up. They were impressed that I had my hair done, make up on, a little dress, and good spirits. Hell, this is the most inactivity I've had in years so a trip to get drains pulled was an event for me.

I have a total of five drains: Back, Lt Abs, Rt Abs, Lt Thigh, Rt Thigh. They pulled both of the thigh drains and I can go back on Friday to see if the rest or more can be pulled. I totally expect to be driving by Monday at the latest. I have a few pictures now and should be ready to blog some that don't quite show the world my wahoo early next week. Today is the first day I'm wearing my regular underwear so I'll get some blog worthy pics this weekend.

Pain wise I am only taking meds at night. That's more to get comfortable than anything else. My new booty swells up and is hard as a rock by the end of the day so it helps take some pressure off to fall asleep.

One of the things I have noticed with surgery is how important plenty of water has become. I've always been a huge water drinker but with all this body trauma I can tell within an hour when I'm getting behind. I get slightly nauseated, a mild headache, I'm quick to be sharp tongued, etc.

It makes me think about all of us when we have bad eating days. Often you read articles about how important water is to weightloss and yet so many of us just dismiss it or let it go easily. How many times have you...

• had a day where stressors seems to get under you skin more than usual?
• had a mild headache and blamed it on low carbs or other food related issues?
• been slightly constipated and that made you ill as a hornet?

There are so many ways that simple, mild dehydration can rear it's ugly head. When you are in general good health you might not even realize how many parts of life are being effected. I see it clear now!

I get the least bit behind on the water and I'm suddenly...

• swelling up
• irritable
• got a headache
• bowels start immediately locking up
• crave strange water-based foods
• lethargic
• more sore all over
• unable to focus

Now, I'm in trauma mode in my body so the signs are like freaking in my face right now. The lesson for me is to be aware that mild dehydration when I'm healthy could be causing me to eat off plan or over indulge when I just need to keep chugging.

As far as how much you need it's variable. If you follow any of my diet and exercise plans I suggest you drink one gallon a day. I drink at least 1.5 in normal times and trying to get in 1-2 right now.

Water. I know it's playing a huge role in my recovery and can play a big role in your own weightloss efforts.

Tummy Tuck, Butt Lift, and Thigh Lift...Oh My!

Well, I am on the other side of this huge undertaking and I'm pleased. Not ready to post many pics yet since my hubby has control over the camera. I promise I will have some pictures and I will also have a video message or two.

For now, let me catch you up on the story.

July 1, 2009 I went in for surgery. The surgery I remember nothing. I wasn't nervous but I'm not the type to get nervous about stuff. It was more like a feeling of just wanting to get started so I could quit worrying about things that would never change.

The first day I was pretty doped up on a morphine pump. I don't remember hurting but I do remember being sore and struggling to find ways to stay still. I unfortunately understood the instructions on the pump to hit the button EVERY ten minutes instead of you CAN hit the button every ten minutes. The whole day and evening I was in a total drug fog. I kept trying to talk and not making sense. One time I even asked my mother was I talking outloud or in my head because I just couldn't decide.

Day two I was walking. They took out the catheter and I wanted to walk down the hall. By noon I had hit the hall up and down four times. The goal was four times for the whole day. Things were GREAT. I was ready to go home so we started up the discharge papers.

The nurses went ahead and took out my fluids to prep me for going home. They also gave me a dose of strong narcotic for the car ride home. By the time it was close to actually leaving I was about an hour before needing another dose so they went ahead and gave me another wad of this stuff. Mix a day of too much morphine, anesthesia still working it's way out of you, a double dose of strong pain killers, no fluids for three hours, and a girl who runs very low blood pressure...and well, you have the next part of the story.

After the next dose I wanted to get up and go potty so I wouldn't have to worry about it on the way home. I stood up and immediately got sick to my stomach and broke out in a cold sweat. I couldn't stand and my breathing got shallow. I sat down and tried again in another thirty minutes. By that time my mom was there and couldn't believe how my condition had changed since she left me. She called a nurse and my blood pressure had severely dropped. I was dehydrated and over medicated.

We decided immediately I couldn't go home and needed to stay. It took a whole night to get me "right" again and by the next day I was ready to go home. I made the trip fine and had a decent night. The next day I drank some water but had to start taking copious amounts of laxatives and such because the doctors office really needed to have me wake up the colon. It's the last thing to come "online" after surgery.

Well, all night I had terrible pain. I was impacted. At one point I almost passed out on the toilet because my body was trying to "push" but I didn't have the abs to make any "magic". My blood pressure again was going crazy, cold sweats, and I couldn't support my body weight.

We tried everything and eventually my poor mom had to give me a Fleet's enema at 5am. To describe my desperateness, I asked her to pray out loud when she gave it to me because the next stop was the emergency room. Everything came back to life and I was resting comfortably by 8am.

I tell all this mess only because I didn't think these were the things to worry about. Body wise I'm doing fine. The surgery is uncomfortable and the pain is VERY TOLERABLE. It's the side crap that has driven me crazy.

Looks wise? Well, my tummy is FLAT. I mean FLAT. I can only eat about a 1/3 of what I could before. With the tight abs and such a little goes a long way. I'm actually making a conscious choice to eat less volume because it is not comfortable at all to get over full.

My thighs look 100% better. They won't be perfect but I knew that going in. I love the new shape though. It will be neat to actually get some of the drains out so I can just try on a pair of pants to see how my body shape looks different.

My butt. LOL. I have a big ole booty now. I mean a badunkadunk type booty. My doctor suggested building one since I would lose most of it and it would be super flat. Dear Lord! The toughest thing about the actual surgery is getting used to all this ass I am sitting on. It's sore too! But I think it will be well worth it.

I will be posting more as I recover because I've learned a lot of valuable lessons just in the past few days. But, as I sit on the other side, I'm glad I took this step. I was never going to let go of my old body image until I did this. Now I look at myself and think about things I can realistically do once cleared to exercise. I feel that I can start truly leading a healthy and fit lifestyle because I focus on my health and not my loose skin. I was tired of loose skin driving my whole journey. No more.