I am so sick of winter!

First we were hit with the sub-zero temps. It was below zero for two days with windchills of 20-30 below zero. We lived through that only to now be hit with a freaking snowstorm. It started about 3:30 this morning and has been snowing since. I believe that there's likely six inches or more of that crap out there now. *sigh* I've shoveled our walk (from our door to the parking lot) three times already today. I know I'll have to wade through snow to get to the car to go to work tonight. If not for losing my holiday pay, I'd call in sick tonight. GRRRRR! I spent half an hour shoveling out my parking spot and I dare someone to park their happy ass in it after I go to work. I swear if they don't have a handicapped placard, they better not be there when I come home in the morning! I will definitely call the police and report them. I know that's bitchy of me but this place does next to nothing for snow removal and I'll be darned if I cleared that spot just so someone else could use it!

It's supposed to snow through the night. Lucky us, huh?! Actually, in the wee hours of the morning, this all may just change to freezing rain, sleet, rain ... what a lovely mix that will be. I so wanted to head off to visit my sister and my girls for the holiday but that won't happen if this weather keeps up. It's dangerous out there. I won't head out if there is ice tomorrow. I guess it's going to be a 'play it by ear kind of thing. FINALLY, I see there is someone outside with a little bobcat, working on clearing the parking lot. It's about time as I've been sitting here watching people skid around the corner all day. You'd think after paying what we do for rent they could at least clean the parking lot more than once a day when it snows all day long! And that's my rant for today.

I work tonight and then will be off until Sunday night. I hope that the weather clears and we can head out tomorrow morning. I'll grab a couple hours sleep and then be on the road. Next check in may be a few days away, depending on whether we go and how things are at my sister's.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas. Be well, be safe, and enjoy your family and loved ones. You never know when it may be your last day here on this earth. Make the most of it!

Three Month Follow-Up

I didn't get time to post yesterday but as of last evening I was down to 330 lbs which means I've lost a total of 200 lbs since starting my journey in Jan of 2005. It's been a long road and I still have about 130ish pounds to go to be where I think I'd like to be. I'm so proud of myself and feeling GREAT!

Saw my surgeon today. He said I'm progressing very well. I advised him I haven't had a menstrual cycle since surgery. He said that happens and one of these days it very likely will come back. RATS! I also asked about a bruise that is taking a LONG time to heal. He said it is a combo of being on the coumadin and now aspirin. He says it can even take up to a year for a bruise to clear. Wow! We discussed a bowel issue I'm having and directed to take fiber and drink more water. Lastly, he said eventually (after a minimum of 18 months) he can remove the loose skin from my tummy and has done it many many times over the last seven years. He said when he does it there are no "dog ear flaps" on the sides that sometimes plastic surgeons leave behind. Woo hoo! He can and will remove my panni one day and said the cost is usually $3000 which is a LOT better than the plastic surgeon quoted at $8000. The good news is I absolutely LOVE my surgeon and will go under his knife with confidence.

The snow is a bugger here. My exercise classes have been canceled for tonight. I'm glad cuz I was gonna ditch if not. I still have to go back out in this crap to get to work and then again to check on the staff through the night. It's times like this I wonder why I took this job. Probably the increase in money had something to do with it. *tongue in cheek*

Week from Hell!

Been so much drama at my house and in my life this past week. None of it is weight loss related. Just a week in the life.

Wednesday night as I was making the rounds at work I discovered one of my tires was going flat. *sigh* Tried to take care of it but air pumps weren't working at the local gas station. By the end of my shift it was completely flat. Thankfully, the maintenance guy had an air compressor and managed to reinflate it. So far it has held so not sure what the deal was. Maybe some jerk let the air out as a joke. Who knows?

Thursday spent the day in a "mandated by the state" training. It wasn't anything I haven't heard before. Bored out of my mind for eight hours and then messed up my whole work schedule resulting in my working half a shift on one of my days off.

Friday night I was sleeping before heading into work. My hubby woke me with "Karon you have to get up. Water is running into our apartment." I get up and sure enough, water is pouring from the ceiling near our bathroom. The smoke detectors are making strange noises, water is running from the door jamb into our bedroom, our bathroom is flooded, water is running down the wall in our bedroom, and spots are appearing in the ceiling all over the place.

I called maintenance and am told they will be here shortly. I ran upstairs to check and see if the tub is overflowing and the young girl up there says her toilet has been overflowing for three days. Three days! Why didn't she do something about it? No wonder we have a flood in our apartment!

Maintenance finally arrived about 40 mins later. He fixed the toilet. He took down one of our smoke detectors. He assessed the damage. He said someone would be out on Monday to clean the carpets and check the damage further. We have a LOT of places that are going to need work in the ceiling. Good news is the hubby no longer wants a condo. He's been in a "I want a place of our own mode" and had thought condo since they are generally a little less money. I never wanted one as I don't care for them. To me, and sorry to anyone who owns one, it is nothing but glorified apartment living. To have this happen because someone just doesn't think would totally tick me off!

So that's been my week. Flat tires, missed exercise, long work hours, and toilet overflow that wasn't even mine. Hmmm ... sure hope next week is better!

As far as weight loss goes ... I was down to 331 this morning. That's a total loss since starting the pre-op diet (which is what the surgeon's office is tracking) of 81 pounds. Since my surgery date, which was now 15 weeks ago Monday, I've lost 56 pounds. That's an average of almost 4 pounds per week and I'm good with that. At this rate, I really may be at my personal goal by Labor Day next year. That's something to think about, huh?

Have a great week, all!

3 Months Post Op

No weight change for me in the last few days. Yesterday was the three month anniversary of my surgery. (I tried to post this yesterday but Blogger had issues!) I am down a total of 52.5 pounds since the day of surgery. I am down 76 pounds since the end of July when I started the pre-op diet. Things are going well.

I did measurements and lost 4.75 inches off my waist since my last set. I also lost 1.5 inches from my hips. The other places I measure (bust, upper arm, thigh, neck) were minimal changes. My thigh measurement stayed the same. *sigh* In total since I started measuring I've lost 18 inches from my body over six of them from my waist and over four from my hips. Woo hoo!

Brief Update

Just an update of my weight this past week. Things are moving right along when I do my part. Yesterday was a bit of a high calorie, high carb kind of day. We were out and about and I just didn't think things through too well. Today is a new day and we'll see how it goes.

I really don't have much to say. It's cold here in IL and I'm tired of snow. The only good thing about it is that I got about 45 minutes of exercise yesterday shoveling. UGH! We live in an apartment complex and park in a handicapped spot for Tim. I went out and cleared the space we park in including the ones on either side with the lines. I dare someone who doesn't have proper authority to park in that spot! LOL I could have cleared more but then we had errands to run.

Watch for a photo update this coming week. Monday will be my three month surgiversary. I'll be weighing, taking measurements, and taking photos. Hoping to get time to post them this week but with exercise and work, things are a big crazy this week.

Have a good one, all.

What happened at the gym

I had a good time at the gym last night. I didn't do as well as I did last week but I did the best I felt I could. The cold is playing havoc with the ole knees. I lasted only ten mins on the treadmill (vs 15 last week). I did 13 mins (two more than last week) on the NuStep at a pace of 88-100 steps per min and a workload of 2. And I did only five minutes (vs 15 last week) on the recumbent bike. My knees were screaming!

Then we moved to the second part of the class. She started us out with regular aerobic exercise. Step touch, chain, etc. We did about 15 mins of that and I thought I was gonna drop. We moved on to a 15 min workout with weights. We finished up class with a "buns of steel" type workout on mats on the floor. It was then that I realized just how weak my left leg is after having that tumor removed. Hopefully, in time, it will improve.

Lastly, we did stretching on the mat which went fine. I found very little flexibility in my left leg but my right is doggone strong.

All in all, it was a good class. We had four in the group; two men (both are in my water aerobics class), another women (also in my class) and myself. I was comfortable for most of it but got a little embarrassed when doing crunches and such on the mats. There were quite a few of those exercises that I couldn't do and Phyllis (trainer) told me how to modify when she realized I was just lounging. Rats! LOL It will come with time and I'll be able to keep up with the best of them. Exercise is definitely becoming a way of life for me. It's back to the cold water for water aerobics tonight. *sigh* The sports center that the bariatric center uses has two pools. One is heated year round and is a smaller pool. It generally has children in it. The pool we use just isn't heated. I'm told the water will get much colder. I don't know. I may have to take the next six weeks off. I hate to do that but we'll see how it goes. I certainly don't want to get sick just to exercise!

And we have a snowstorm headed in. Did I mention I'm tired of snow already?!

It's too darn cold for me!

I'm not fond of winter but when we lived in Florida I missed it. Go figure! Who ever ordered this cold and snow can cancel it now. I'm tired of it already. I'm afraid this winter is going to be quite snowy. I really need to find a pair of boots so when I tromp through the snow at work, my feet stay dry. Gym shoes just aren't going to cut it!

Whew! Just finished the grocery shopping. It went quite well and I walked without complaining even once. Tim is amazed at how well I do. Heck, I'm amazed at how well I do myself. It feels good to go and walk in the store now, though. I really hated riding those carts and got quite dependent upon them. Now it doesn't matter if the store has them or not cuz I just don't need them anymore. Woo hoo!

Last night I had a hard time making myself go to water aerobics. It was only 24 outside and I knew the pool was going to be cold. It is not a headted pool. The "room" the pool is in is generally about 80 or so but the water is not heated. OMG I don't think ice cubes would have melted in that water it was so cold! I did warm up for a while but by the end I was chilled and it stayed with me. It took me until the wee hours of the morning at work to warm up and then I think the cup of hot tea I made helped. Sheesh! What was I thinking continuing that class thru the winter?

I kept telling myself last night that I'd burn more calories because of the cold water. Not sure it's true, but I made it through class, anyway. Then I hit the locker room and oh no. It was freezing in there. Getting chafed skin from not drying well, I guess. I thought I was but the chafing is there and that's the only reason I can come up with right now.

Tonight is my 'gym' night. I will be walking on the treadmill, using the NuStep, and riding the recumbent bike (if Laurel isn't there; it's her favorite piece of equip and I hear she parks on it for the night when she comes). I'm still too heavy to do the regular bike or the spin bikes. Got to be under 300 to do those so I'll be there in a couple months. Yea me!

I will also be doing whatever floor exercises she has us do. The trainers can choose from bands, hand held weights, balls, mats, and some other stuff. Hope we don't do steps as I'm not quite steady enough for those right now. I'm sure we'll do bands as the instructor tonight loves to use those. Other than that, no one would tell me what she does. The regular gal that I like (Laurie) won't be there tonight. We have Phyllis. I like her and she's great in the pool with telling me how to modify so I'm sure it will be fine. I'll let you all know how it goes when I next check in. Tomorrow night will be water aerobics once again and then a shorter class on Thursday.

Yes, Jamie ... I am literally working my butt off. Tim says I no longer have a butt. It's there but it's not if you know what I mean. LOL

Have a great week, all! Happy December.