Confessions of a Sugarholic

Hello everyone! I can't believe another week has passed so quickly. Thanksgiving is behind us and we're now into the holiday season. Lots of parties, events and gatherings, which also means more food. Food is everywhere. I'm even guilty of it because my hubby and I will be making cookie tins this weekend. Will I be able to stay away? Probably not. I'm sure I'll indulge in one oatmeal raisin walnut cookie. Matilda always makes sure to halt me at one, but I always think of the day when one won't be enough. It worries me. After the epic Thanksgiving that resulted in hello-crazy weight loss - my largest weight loss week to date - I've been feeling differently. As a weight loss surgery patient, in the back of my mind there is this thought that maybe I'd never be small. I guess it's hard to shake those body image issues that tend to stick no matter how much I've lost. But this week, I've been thinking that I will be that smaller person. It's

Good job, Matilda. Well done. Happy Monday everyone. I know it's been a few weeks, but I figured I'd fill you all in after Thanksgiving. I was also struggling with a health issue prior to my vacation, and I'm happy to report I got that addressed prior to leaving. So, let's start there. I reported before that my doctor is working on adjusting my blood pressure medication. I was on too much medication and was experiencing dizziness so he told me to stop taking one of them. Well, the pill I stopped taking also had a diuretic in it. After the first week off the pill, my body started to retain water in large amounts. My ankles swelled and I wasn't urinating no matter how much water I drank. I ended up almost gaining 10 pounds. I spoke with my doctor, and he told me to discontinue the one bp med, and switch to my other med with the diuretic. He mentioned we may need to play with these meds until my bp stabilizes, and we find what works. I'm happy to report

Hello everyone! I'm heading into week 16... Wow! I'm still trying to wrap my head around how quickly the time is passing. When I was in the pre-surgical program, I was grateful for the time I had to prepare myself for life after surgery. Now that I'm in the thick of it, I'm happy with my progress so far. Matilda and I are getting along great. Sure, she makes weird noises often, but I appreciate every noise, every twitch, every warning. I listen to her when she's telling me she's had enough or she doesn't like something... And especially when she loves something. It's hard to stop eating when you're enjoying your food, but I do. I do stop. I think that's what make me so content. I feel like I am doing well managing my portions and impulses. This past week, I had another NSV or Non-scale Victory. On Friday, I checked in with my Primary Doctor for a blood pressure check. My blood pressure has been on the low side, and I told him that I've be

Happy Monday, Readers. It's definitely been a week of developments. All week, my stall has been in the back of my mind nagging slightly, but not discouraging me. If anything, it was nagging me to work harder and not quit. I was very determined this week, and I also started my new weight training plan for the next five weeks.  There was some hella sweat and pain this week. I was tired, and I was suffering from muscle fatigue - which can be a good thing. Muscles break down when stressed, and repair themselves, which makes you stronger. Friday, my leg day, incorporated and additional set of squats and lunges. So now I do wide stance and close stance on squats and walking lunges and side lunges. I thought nothing of the side lunges since they appeared to be quite innocent. My butt and legs are still sore...three days later! My interval running has also improved. I notice that my heart rate isn't as high as it was when running intervals at 4 mph - which means my endurance is i

Hey everyone! I know it's been a few weeks since I updated. During that time, I hit my three post-op milestone. I didn't have any doctor appointments or anything, but I have been trying different foods and textures. Some agree with me... and some don't. Matilda is still in control and she still runs the slow. I still feel restriction, and I'm eating a constant 800-1000 calories a day and eating four small meals. It seems to be working well. My appetite isn't out of control - even with my workout schedule, and I eat about every 3 hours or so. Hi Matilda! I have my surgery date and tummy name on the back. Speaking of Matilda, my tummy arrived about a week ago. My tummy pillow is a nice reminder of my surgery. She's cute and squishy. I also can toss her around if her namesake is acting up a bit. If any of your are curious as to where she came from, let me know, and I'll give you the deets. The dark blue portion of the pillow is pretty true. My stomac

It was a great week! This past week was without a doubt the best week I've had since I had surgery. My energy is steady. My body was tired by the end of the week due to my workouts, but it was a satisfying tiredness. I don't know any other way to explain it. I feel myself getting stronger, and I'm able to tolerate more foods. I was feeling so good that on Friday, I was brave. I texted my husband to ask if he wanted to go out to dinner. I wanted to order a hamburger, and I felt it was time to give it a try. My favorite food is hamburgers. I love the cheese, the lettuce and pickles. I adore ground beef, so hamburgers are it for me. I've had ground beef since surgery, and Matilda was happy with it, but I hadn't tried a hamburger, and I really wanted one. So it was time to test it out. Now, my hamburger after surgery is quite different than before. No bun. No lettuce. Just the patty with pepper jack cheese and some ketchup. So, I ordered my burger - an 8 ounce bu

Hello my lovely Readers! Week 10 is here, and I'm feeling a bit conflicted. It's so easy for me help others who may have questions or are curious about my experiences, and I try to encourage them as much as I can.  So...why is it so hard for me to follow my own advice? Matilda and I drown our sorrows in H2O! When I last left you, I was disheartened by a high blood pressure reading at my two month post-op appointment. Wishful thinking I hoped it was due to me running up two flights of stairs to get to the office, but when I went to my Primary Doc appointment on Friday, it was not the case. My blood pressure is high. The one medication I'm taking isn't enough, and my PCP (Primary Care Physician) placed me back on my second blood pressure med that I hadn't taken since my pre-op liquid diet. I just knew that when I went to my PCP, he was going to take me off of my blood pressure and high cholesterol medication - I mean after all, he already took me off my diabe

Greetings! I hope you had a decent Monday. This week was quite interesting and a lot happened. So, strap in because I hope you won't mind a longer post since I have quite a bit to report. First off, I had my second post-surgery check in with my Physician's Assistant today. It was a good check up. I got my "report card," which is just a summary of weight loss since I started the program in January. I'm down 61.5 pounds since January 2017. I've lost almost 37% of my excess body weight. One thing I wasn't expecting was a high blood pressure reading - 132/93. I'm pretty bummed about that, but I hope it's an anomaly because I haven't had a reading that high in a long time. Plus, I hate that the office uses a machine. I also just ran up two flights of stairs so maybe that was the problem. I will see my PCP on Friday, and I'll speak about it with him. I'm more concerned about his reading and evaluation. They don't use a machine at my

I promise I don't wear a skirt when I lift.  Matilda does tho...  Hello everyone! I had a very decent week. I'm officially eight weeks from VSG surgery and I'm feeling pretty normal - other than Matilda Gertrude taking to me all hours of the day or night. She's quite the chatty gal. Today also begins the last stage of my dietary progression. At this point, I can should be able to tolerate most foods - keeping note of those that may give me trouble. Right now, I am still avoiding fruits with skins, raw vegetables, breads, pasta, rice, corn and steak. I haven't had much trouble with any food I've tried so far. I even introduce nuts this past week, and it was great. I'm so happy I can still eat nuts because I do enjoy them as part of my diet. Regarding my weight stall.... I've been keeping the faith that I didn't break Matilda. She still has hella restriction, and although I may attempt to put more food on my plate because she said she's

Hello my lovely readers, and Happy Labor Day for those of you who reside in the United States. I hope you take advantage of the time off to do something you enjoy. For those of us who live in northwest Pennsylvania/northeast Ohio, it's a lovely day. I started my day with some activity.  I did some weight training - I bought 2 ten pound dumbbells and some resistance bands and put those to good use. I also swung my 20 pound kettlebell - single arm swings, snatches, squats and full American swings. I'll admit I was curious/concerned how my incision sites would react. I have one incision that goes quite deep and there were some internal stitches that may take 8-10 weeks to fully heal, but I was given the green light to start weights at 6 weeks.  It's been 7 weeks now, and no pain anywhere. I'm quite pleased with that so I'll make sure to incorporate more weights 3x a week for about 30 minutes along with my other cardio. So, how is Matilda doing? She's great.

Hello Readers! I'm sorry for the late post. This last week did not go as I hoped. That's what happens in life. Murphy's Law does exist, and my personal motto has already been "Life is how you handle Plan B." I definitely feel like I'm in Plan B mode, and I'm going to handle it like a boss. I'm finally in week six, and this week I'm allowed to go back to the gym and I can start with light weights. Sadly, I only worked out one day, and I did Zumba. I did great, but I didn't have the opportunity to do more than the one day. I'm a bit disappointed in myself that I didn't make more of an effort to go, and based on what happened later in the week and yesterday, I think I have bigger fish to fry than getting 3-5 days of activity in at this point. My 41st birthday was Sunday, and overall I had a good birthday. I spent time with family and friends, which is how I like to celebrate. I didn't eat much. Had the opportunity to eat cake, ha

"Girl! Do yo thang! I gotchu!" -Matilda Hello again! Matilda sends her regards. She's going quite well five weeks out. Time is certainly flying by, and it's also time to advance my diet to stage 3 - Soft foods, and it's just like it's described. Foods soft in texture. Avoid fruits and vegetables with skin along with raw vegetables.  Today I'm planning on having some salmon and broccoli. Wow, sounds exciting right? Well, I'm totally pumped because I haven't had anything but liquids and pureed foods for about 6 weeks so we are definitely ready. Matilda and I certainly has quite an eventful week. We went to a Bruno Mars concert - which I was a bit nervous about. We also went out to dinner with family and did a 3K walk. So, lets debrief. I've been waiting for this concert since January when I got the tickets. I went with my hubby and my parents - my mom is a quite a fan as well. I was a bit apprehensive because the last time I was enjoying

Wow! It's been four weeks since surgery. Time has really flown. I was also release to go back to work today. I'm very fortunate to work from home, and my employer is very supportive and gave me the time I needed to heal. I'm actually back two weeks earlier than scheduled.  It was a good day! I really took it easy this week per Doctor's orders. I mainly cleaned up around the house and started cooking again. I really enjoy cooking - especially trying new recipes. I use Pinterest religiously, and I was happy to pull out one of my favorite recipes to bring to a deck party with some friends. They love Almond Butter Cups and cornbread so I made both. I hadn't made items like this in a while, and I'm a huge fan of cooking from scratch since that's how I was raised, and I feel it's a wonderful, healthy option. When I had lost a good amount of weight earlier in the blog, I made so many good meals. I was flirting with clean eating. I completed a Whole30, and f