What Have You Done for YOU Lately….
07 Mar 2011 6 Comments
Hello my Junkies! I wanted to hit on a topic today that has been floating around a few forums I read and an article my friend Rox sent me about self -care. We live in America for goodness sake..aren’t we self absorbent enough, you ask? True..to a point. But I am not talking about selfishness or self-absorption. I am talking about caring for our souls, bodies and minds so that we can fully take care of others, and enjoy it. I know as a wife and mother I would feel like I was constantly giving, going, and doing without much thanks or rest. This is okay and the choice I made to be a wife and mother and I enjoyed that part of my life. However, the big tired resentment monster would creep in and take over sometimes. We just get used up between being a spouse, a parent, a worker bee, a friend, a classroom mom, the kool-aid house…you name it. I was so used up that I stopped caring about me. And instead of self-care I became self-indulgent to a degree of killing myself. By the time my day was over with everything I had to do and the kids were finally in bed all I wanted to do is sit down with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and a bag of chips and watch TV. This became an obsession with food that I thought was a treat and giving myself something special. HA…hundreds of pounds later, high blood pressure, resentment for being overweight, hating who I had become physically as well as mentally, taking out every little emotion on the family I had committed to and loved, destroying who I was as a person and just hating life is what I created. Did you hear that…I created it. Not my family, not my friends, not the resentment and exhaustion…me…myself.. and I created that. There is another big thing in the difference of self-indulgence and self-care. With self-indulgence we use the words me, my, I much differently than when we are self-caring. This is for me, I deserve it, give it to me now. With self-care it’s more like I am exercising today to look and feel better so I can be a better person to the world. I don’t say I am eating this Ben and Jerry’s so that I can feel like a queen and be a better wife! LOL not so much. Am I saying that is wrong to be self-indulgent occasionally? Hell no, go have those treats, they are part of life. What I am saying is try to take care of yourself to the point that they are just occasional indulgences that don’t lead to addictions, obsessions and resentments.
So how do you self-care then? Well, I am learning so much about this because most of my life I have just been a spoiled, brooding, I want it now American. I didn’t understand what taking care of myself meant. Self-care gives us the ability to care for and do for others with a big old true smile on our faces. I think of it like the oxygen mask on the plane. I have to put my mask on first to make sure I can help the child or person that can’t do it for themselves. If I don’t put my mask on not only will I die but so will the person that needed help.
Exercise has become my biggest step in self-care. I have always despised it! But as I lose weight I realize the benefits of this action not only for myself but also for my family, friends and now my community. For myself, exercise has become a time of self-reflection. As I walk I think. I think about my day, my week and what I need to accomplish. The time gives me some much-needed reflection and preparing and sometimes even prayer time. When I go work-out with my friend Mimi it is a time to chit-chat and gossip with my girlfriend. We all need friend time. These two things are so important to help us function as humans and relate to ourselves and those we meet in our day. The exercise also makes me feel accomplished. Like I have truly succeeded at something. Again, this makes me a better person. Sir Edmund Hilary once said, ” “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” This is so true. I used to believe that I was not a person that would be thin or exercise. I put that mental mountain up in my head and I got fat and lazy. Now I am tearing it down to conquer myself. This self-care in exercise is making me mentally and physically better for others also. I have a clearer mind to help those that need it, I am physically able to do things with my family and friends that I was never able to do before and as for helping my community I am now walking in the local Holliann Grace Center for Children with Disabilities 1st Annual Deputy Dash on March 20th and I am on a Relay for Life team for the American Cancer Society in May. The funny thing is I am actually looking forward to these functions! In the past I would not even go to watch because I was so focused on being too big, too out of shape, too embarrassed…but that is just it…because I make time now to be healthy I can and want to share that with my community and give back. It is not all about me and being out of shape and fat…it totally was all about me in such a negative way before. So if you live in the area and would like to join either one of these functions you can go to the websites I posted with names above. Just click on the name and it will take you there. Also, if you can’t show up, you can always donate. The Holliann Grace would love some donations!!! And I am actually looking for sponsors for Relay for Life. You can go here for my info. Also you can email me with any questions you might have. This is how my Relay for Life sponsorship is going. You can either sponsor me per the pounds I lose from Tuesday, March 1st (yep it’s already started) to Tuesday, April 19th. I started at 233 pounds on the 1st. I am already down 3 pounds. You can pledge as much per pound or as little as you feel comfortable with giving. Then I will announce on the 19th how much I have lost in that time and you can either send me a check or pay at the website with your credit or debit card. Just email me at myextrememeltdown@gmail.com with your pledges if this is what you decide to do. You can also just go to my Relay website and donate one amount without worrying about the per pound pledges. It’s up to you. My goal is to raise $200. I will walk for 5 to 6 miles in the Relay. We all know people who have fought with or died from cancer! And we all know people that have children with disabilities. Let’s support them and help get them through their tough times! See how just starting to self-care with exercise has changed my outlook on the world? Amazing!
So what are some other self-care things I have started doing…not using food to reward myself. This one is hard!!! But instead I take the money I would have spent on the junk food I would shoved down in five minutes and spend it on things like Estee Lauder facial care. I love this stuff. And it makes me feel presentable. Did I hear someone say, well that is just expensive and self-indulgent. By the time I spend $20 on some sort of food that is gone immediately and just makes me fat and miserable and not so nice…I can save that up twice and buy a nice bottle of moisturizer from there. And it may be a bit indulgent but pigging out on 3 cheeseburgers and a fries and large drink with ice cream to follow isn’t indulgent? It’s all about learning to take care of ourselves. And I find that this is fun and worth the cash because it makes me feel pretty and healthy. When I feel this way I want to be around people more often in a positive way.
Self-care number 3 is spending time with those I love. This is a hard one because we get so busy…but I love the moments of refreshment I get from being with the people I love. It nourishes me inside and out and helps me remember that it isn’t all about me, myself, and I!
So Junkies, how do you self-care? Or what are some ideas you have to start self-care. Take care of yourselves and love yourself so you can care for and love others. Leave me a message on here in the comments about it or just shoot me an email at myextrememeltdown@gmail.com and I will be glad to share your ideas on here! Hugs until next time!!
So Just How Big Were You……
04 Mar 2011 6 Comments
in About Sheri, Good Days, My Life, Post Surgery Tags: Alaska, bariatric tv, before and after pictures, BTV, extreme meltdown, inches lost, Junkies, measurements, support, Virginia, weight loss, Weight Loss Surgery, wls
Hello my Junkies, how is everyone on this fine, cold day…well at least it’s cold here in Virginia! What the heck am I gonna do in Alaska if 50 is cold to me? I know, I will acclimate. I wanted to share some stats with you all today. I know I showed you a picture of my progress but the weight loss with the measurements and side-by-side pictures really put into perspective what has gone on with my body. When you are losing weight…you know you are because the scale is going down. But with surgery we lose it so fast it tends to take our brains a while to catch up with what is actually happening to our bods. I have been losing like crazy but couldn’t really see it even though other’s could see it. I knew logically because of the scale and the smaller clothes that I was losing weight….but the image in the mirror was distorted to me and I just wasn’t really seeing what was going on. Well that all changed for me when I posted to my favorite forum
I was posting in the Before and After segment with the new picture that I posted on here the other day and the very first bra pictures I took for this blog. We can post before and during pictures on this also so that is what I did seeing how at the time I had lost 93 pounds and was halfway to my goal. OMG!!! I had no idea of the difference! Like I said…logically, yeah, I have lost lots of weight and my clothes are getting smaller but…holy crap! Even Jay, who hadn’t seen those before pics in a while was stunned. He sees me everyday and just didn’t realize the drastic change…here let me prove it to you!
This was just very eye-opening to me! It is also one of the reasons I wasn’t posting on here for so long, well besides pure laziness. I kept thinking in my crazy head that I was doing a horrible job at this and you couldn’t tell I was losing weight so why disappoint everyone. Why disappoint myself. I had it in my head that this would fail like everything else. I know, I am crazy! I should have been posting and reaching out for more support than closing myself off and hiding from possible failure. Quite frankly, failure is what I have always been used to in regards to my weight. I have always been black or white, all or nothing, no gray areas. And I have learned over the last four months..that this attitude is crap! There are lots of gray areas and I am learning to live within those areas. I am learning that everyday I move forward even in the smallest way is the greatest accomplishment. I also have learned that even though I am not always perfect on my eating or exercise that doesn’t mean I have failed or that I should just quit. I pick myself up and just do the best I can. And it is working for me.
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- October 18, 2010, 326 pounds
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- October 18, 2010, 326 pounds
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- February 28, 2011, 326 pounds
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- March 4, 2011 232 pounds
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- March 4, 2011 232 pounds
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- March 4, 2011 232 pounds
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- March 4, 2011 232 pounds
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- March 4, 2011 232 pounds
Now for the numbers……On October 18th..the start day of my two-week pre-surgery liquid diet I weighed 326 pounds. In that two weeks I lost 20 pounds. Now at month four after surgery I weigh 232 pounds. I have lost a total of 94 pounds (only 6 more to hit that magical 100 pounds lost, and only 33 pounds to get in onederland). This is very exciting to me! I am really figuring out how to celebrate each little and big victory!!! Finally!!!! As far as measurements here they are….
The Day of Surgery, November 2, 2010- Four Months Later, March 4th, 2011-
Neck: 19 1/4 in. Neck: 16 1/2 in.
Right Upper Arm: 15 1/2 in. Right Upper Arm: 13 in.
Left Upper Arm: 15 in. Left Upper Arm: 13 in.
Bust: 60 in. Bust: 49 in.
Below Bust: 49 1/2 in. Below Bust: 42 in.
Waist: (this one is scary still) 57 in. Waist: 48 in.
Hips: 58 1/2 in. Hips: 48 in.
Right Thigh: 27 in. Right Thigh: 22 1/2 in.
Left Thigh: 26 3/4 in. Left Thigh: 22 in.
Right Calf: 17 in. Right Calf: 16 1/2 in.
Left Calf: 17 in. Left Calf: 16 3/4 in.
Total Inches Lost-
Neck: -2 3/4 in.
RUA: -2 1/2 in.
LUA: -2 1/2 in.
Bust: -11 in.
Below Bust: -7 1/2 in.
Waist: -9in.
Hips: -10 1/2 in.
R. Thigh: -4 1/2 in.
L. Thigh: -4 3/4 in.
R. Calf: -1/2 in.
L. Calf: -1/4 in.
Total Inches Lost Four Months After Surgery: 55 3/4 in.
That is a lot of inches lost in four months. I know that those inches will start going faster now also because I am not only walking I am starting some strength and muscle-building exercises!
So I just wanted to share my stats with you all. This really helps me put into perspective how far I have actually come and how much more I have to do to get where I want to be and maintain where I want to be once I am there. Thanks for your support everyone! Hugs until later!
And The Winner Is…..
03 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
Heeeellllloooooo Junkies! Well I have finally decided to tell you all who the Holiday Recipe winner is. This wonderful Junkie and her husband have been very very supportive of me through this whole journey. I always get an inspiring word or cyber-hug from them on Facebook. What a wonderful support system I have in all of you. So here we go….I honestly will tell you that I had only this submission. So she wins by default…but I will tell you that if the recipe sucked she wouldn’t have won even by default. And it didn’t suck….AT ALL!!!!
The winner is Antreka G. for her chicken Roll-up Delights! OMG…these are sooooo yummy and actually very simple to make. Jay will even make them if I am not able to cook for some reason, and he HATES cooking! Antreka wins those wonderful bottles of flavored olive oil from William Sonoma (that were not donated…I have to say this) and the video of Season 1 for Bariatric TV that Mike, Toni, and Lyndda were kind enough to donate for the contest. They are just funny funny people, with lots of good info! Antreka, I have your address and I will be sending those items out to you shortly! Big congrats!
Now for the recipe…We love this so much that we have made other versions of it also and we make the original or our tweaked versions at least twice a month..if not more!
Lay the chicken out flat and brush with dressing.
(Jay and I actually let the chicken breast marinate over night if we plan ahead…but it’s great either way) Layer with ham first, than spinach, then cheese ( you will see in our pics that we didn’t do it in this order…but you can..I just didn’t follow directions, but it still worked out) 
Roll up the chicken and put a toothpick in it. 
Place in a baking pan and brush with dressing, garlic salt and pepper. I put down tin foil because I don’t like to scrub pans 
Bake at 350 for about 20 min. The chicken will cook quickly because it is so thin. I check it every 5 mins so it won’t over cook and be dry. GREAT app or main dinner…mmmmmmm
The Prodigal Blogger Returns!!!!
02 Mar 2011 7 Comments
Well hello Junkies! Where oh where have I been???? My best answer for this is …..hibernating!!! Spring is coming though and I have awakened from my winter coma. I hope you all aren’t too mad at me. This post is just kind of hello, I am back, here is what is going on kinda thing so bear (get it?..hibernating) with me!
As of yesterday I have lost 93 pounds…which means to get to my goal weight of 140 pounds (this is subject to change once I see what it’s like to actually weigh 140) I have 93 pounds to go! I am half-way there folks!!! Now I know you all are thinking….wow! 93 pounds in 4 months..that is awesome! And you’re right, it is….but I know it will slow down eventually and that is why I have started exercising my booty off recently. I was walking right after surgery but, like posting to this blog, I just got LAZY!!!! However, I did start-up again a couple of weeks ago and I am now walking 3 to 4 miles per day, 5 to 6 days a week…it just depends how my body is feeling. I can move now…it’s so nice to be able to do things like…um….walk…without feeling like I am gonna just keel over any second. I can now tie my shoes without dying, bend over and actually not only touch my toes but place my hands under my feet…amazing! I can cross my legs like a lady..not that I have ever …EVER..been accused of being a lady! Oh and get this…my shoe size actually did go down…I now wear an 8 to 8 1/2, depending on the shoe, instead of a 9. All of this really cool stuff is happening and I need to be sharing it with all of my junkies instead of hiding.
I will tell you that we did have a winner for the Holiday Healthy Recipe contest! I will be posting the recipe as well as the pictures and our lucky winner tomorrow…I know..it’s friggin’ March and I am just now posting this…sorry…please forgive! I will make it up to you all. I have some great coupons and offers coming up for you all in the next month as a penance…
So for today I have a picture that my son took today of me in my new workout clothes. For those of you on my Facebook you have seen these but it’s all I have right now to show you how far I have come. I love you all and I will be ….WILL BE….posting tomorrow! Big hugs and it feels wonderful to be back on here with you all!
Move Your Groove Thang!
06 Dec 2010 17 Comments
Hello Junkies!! What makes you move your groove thang??? I walk now and in order to do this I have to have good tunes to keep me moving. If I didn’t have the fun-filled music I would still be sittin around watching reruns of Ghost Hunters. Today my new music list I put together had me walking so much I almost didn’t come home. Then because I couldn’t believe I walked so far I hopped in my car just to check how far I had actually gone. The neighbors probably thought I was nuts driving around the hood in circles…but I had to check. Yes my junkies I walked 2 1/2 miles today…wooo hoooooo! Life is good and my ass is hurting…that is how I judge if my walk was good or not..if my ass hurts. The point is I could not have done this listening to one of my audio books or listening to the wind whistle through my hair! I have to be inspired to move. So today I am going to share my top twenty move your groove thang songs for walking or elliptical or whatever! Then I would love for you all to share some tunes you like to work out to. The more workout tunes we have the longer we can walk, walk, walk without getting bored. Here is my top twenty music choices for the great ass hurt:
1. Summertime…Billie Holiday (I love this version and it’s a bit slower to start me out on my walk..warm up)
2. Color Purple: Miss Celie’s Blues…Color Purple Soundtrack (Again, warm-up. And I think about all my sisters with this one)
3. Little Miss Can’t Go Wrong….Spin Doctors (Speed it up a bit)
4. A Little Less Conversation (J.X.L. Radio Edit Remix)…Elvis Presley (So much fun in the remix…and who doesn’t love the King)
5. You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)…Jessica Simpson version (but I also have the original and use it too)
6. You Sexy Thing…Hot Chocolate (an oldy but a goody)
7. Hey, Soul Sister…Train (this makes me think of my Bestie Viv! I love ya girl)
8. Obviously…McFly (this makes think of my other Bestie and Viv’s other half, Murray..Love ya!)
9. Give Me One Reason (American Idol Performance)..Crystal Bowersox (just cool)
10. Sweet Home Alabama…Lynyrd Synyrd (because I am Southern Fried Rock wanna be)
11. Foux du FaFa…Flight of the Concords (just for the silliness of it)
12. Don’t Want To Miss a Thing…Cover by Pomplamoose (I have loved them for a while now..even before they were selling cars)
13. September..Cover by Pomplamoose (I adore the Earth, Wind and Fire original and have it too)
14. La Vie En Rose..Cover by Pomplamoose (good cool down song…can you tell I absolutely love Pomplamoose..just so funky and fun, this also makes me think of my fave movie French Kiss)
15. Last Christmas … Wham (for the holidays and making me miss our Kodiak karaoke days Quetta)
16. Get the Party Started…Pink (Just about any song from Pink’s album M!ssundaztood gets my butt moving)
17. Cowboy Take Me Away…Dixie Chicks (a little country mixed in)
18. Landslide…Dixie Chicks or the Original Fleetwood Mac (perfect cool down after a hard walk)
19. All I Want for Christmas is You Remix…iSweat Fitness Music Vol. 120 (Again with the trying to get in the holiday spirit, but this is also in another fave movie and makes me happy…Love Actually)
20. I’ll Cover You (Reprise)….Soundtrack of Rent (This sounds weird but I finish my walks up with this almost everyday because it is so beautiful and I just love how relaxing yet inspiring it is…Love Rent)
So there is just a tiny piece of the walking music I listen to. I change it up all the time because I get bored so easily. When I pick my walking music I try to pick a variety of musics based on how I feel and what is going to inspire me and make me happy. Believe me there are many days I do not want to get out there. Especially today because it was colder than a witches tit! But if I know I have songs going on that have good memories associated with them, they make me move, and make me happy….I am walking. Look for old favorites in remixes too. An example of this is…I love Johnny Cash and his music makes me happy thinking about my dad! Daddy loved him but I would have never thought of walking to him. Now I can because there are some pretty cool remixes of JC out there. Suspicious Minds by Elvis is one of my fave songs also that reminds me of happy parent times and now there is a great remix that I can move too and have happy memories. Just have fun and pick out what is gonna make you move your groove thang! Hugs Junkies!
Sooooo NOT Easy!!!!
06 Dec 2010 12 Comments
Helllllooooo Junkies! Well, a few of you already know what this post is about seeings how I erupted on Facebook yesterday with a little blurb that went something like this,
“Sheri Long Mitchell is soooo going to post about how bariatric surgery is NOT the easy way out!!!!! I am so sick of judgemental, uneducated people stating that obese people who have surgery are just lazy and looking for the easy way out. So ridiculous! This has been the hardest thing I have ever done! So look for this and more in my blog tomorrow. I have had it!!!!!”
Yeah, I was little….um…irritated to say the least! And seriously, you know I am pissed when I flame on Facebook…this is just not something I normally do. I was actually a bit embarrassed after I posted this statement because I was being so ugly. But thinking about it, this needs to be said. Before I get into what actually happened to bring out Evil Twin Sheri let me state that this comment I made has nothing to do with anyone I know personally! All of my friends and family have been more than supportive. If anyone of the people in my life feel as though weight loss surgery (WLS) is the easy way out and don’t agree with my choice they have not said so to me. My aunt called and was worried for me but that is different. And if any of my group is against it I don’t have a problem with that we all have our beliefs. However, everyone I know has been so completely supportive and cheering me on every single day since I made the choice. I love a good, educated talk and differences of opinion, that is what makes this country beautiful. We are all individuals and are free to make our own life. My Junkies all are amazing! I love you all and appreciate every kind word and supportive gesture you have done for me. Thanks……So what’s the issue you say????
Well here is what started it all….. I am a friend or “like” a certain famous trainer personality on Facebook. Now, I chose to be a part of this famous person’s FB because I believe that although she can be a real hard ass sometimes she does have some good health tips to share occasionally. Well, said personality posted an article from USA Today entitled Panel recommends expanding use of stomach bands with her quote attached to it that states “This sucks. There are long-term solutions out there that are safer and cheaper. DIET, SELF EXPLORATION, EXERCISE.” I proceeded to go read the article (please do so also if you are so inclined) because although I have had gastric bypass I have many friends who have had lap band done and it is a form of WLS. I am a part of the entire WLS community and I support all forms of WLS. Now the article is about the FDA lowering the eligibility stats so more people may receive the lap band if they are so inclined or their insurance allows it. Honestly, many insurances don’t….so first reason for people to calm down. After I read the article I began going through the over 4 or 500 comments to this post. The majority of these comments were just hideous. People stating that WLS patients were just lazy and wanted an easy way out. Some stating that they lost lots and lots of weight just through exercise and eating right so therefore anyone could do this. My faves though were the comments that were just plain mean stating that if obese people would just get off their asses and move they would lose weight. Other comments just made it seem like people who had or considered WLS were just looking for the easy way, the holy grail if you will, magic….Yeah, lazy. I have been lazy, I will tell you that quite honestly. When my knees started giving out because of the weight and I couldn’t breath walking just a few feet, I started getting lazy. I have had people in the past though before the knees and breathing issues ask me straight out why I was fat because I never sat still! Yeah, lazy. Let me tell you something…many obese people have a food addiction but still do day-to-day things, including exercise. I know I used to exercise my ass off but the ass didn’t go anywhere…I just stayed fat. Oh I would lose 10 or 15 pounds struggling with exercise and healthy eating but it would come right back with friends the second I took even a two or three-day break to heal because I would be so sore. Yeah, lazy.
So I got mad. I am not the most educated about WLS. But I know a fair amount. And yes, there a people out there that will go through the WLS procedure and expect it to fix everything. It doesn’t work like that. I spent seven months going through test after test and class after class. I have been to a psychologist to not only test me to make sure I was mentally stable enough to have this surgery ( I still wonder sometimes why I passed that test as well as psychology to help with my eating addiction behaviors.I went to 6 months of nutrition classes as well. This is more than any other medical professional has done for me and my weight woes. Most docs just wanted or did put me on a drug and didn’t even send me to a nutritionist. I applaud my surgeon and insurance company for making these things a prerequisite to even being considered for surgery. I needed these classes and appointments in place before I could fully grasp what I was about to do. So most WLS patients are educated and understand that they don’t operate on our heads…only our tummys. This is only a tool to help get us where we are going. I can now exercise again because much of the pressure is gone from my knees, I can climb up the stairs without being out of breath, my blood pressure meds are gone and as of today my BP was 109/74…..that, my friends, is amazing!!! My blood pressure with meds used to run 145/90 or more much of the time. I am eating normal, healthy food, not spending a fortune on “diet” food. I take healthy supplements that help me keep my vitamin and mineral levels up. I feel like a new person with a new lease on life. I can and will be healthy! So for someone who does not know a damn thing about WLS or what many of us go through as struggling obese people to spout off and say people are lazy and dumb for having it…I just want to say something really bad!
This has not been easy either…besides all of those tests, classes and psych evals, the surgery itself and healing have been a major challenge. I have not had any complications so far…knock on wood…but I have faced some big issues of dehydration and not being able to get in the supplements I need to stay healthy. I am happy to say I am now able to get all of those things in, it just took time. I am also learning that if I need to sit down to do it. Yeah, lazy. Rest equals healing. Healing equals strength. …So I know I shouldn’t have let it get to me I just want people to stop being so judgemental and educate themselves before they speak out of their ass! What is wrong with people…So here is one of the comments I put under this post, the other comment was very similar, even though it did no good….
Christmas is Here!
04 Dec 2010 9 Comments
Well I have been trying to ignore the fact that it is the Christmas season. I just have not been able to get into the holiday spirit. Yesterday helped though. Last night Jay and I went to my friend Pam’s church for a lovely Christmas around the world function. There were many different cultures presented with that particular area’s favorite Christmas dessert served. I did not partake of the dessert, but at this point I don’t need to. I am not a big sweets person anymore and although it all looked good I just am not ready to even tempt sugar back into my life. The company and the Christmas story being told along with the caroling was wonderful enough for me. This function reminded me what Christmas is really about. Spending time with friends and laughing and sharing is wonderful. Tonight Jay and I are attending a Christmas wine tasting party. There will be plenty of wine and food there to tempt, but I am taking a healthy version of stuffed mushrooms that I know I can eat. There will also be plenty of cheeses and other proteins available if I want. Not that I can eat much…believe me. Today we ran to Costco to pick a few things up and they had some roast beef with gravy at one of the food sample tables. Well, I can have that so I proceeded to take the miniscule cup of roast beef and eat it. So driving the cart around and trying to dodge a million grouchy holiday shoppers I was eating my goodie and got full really fast on it. It was only about 1 tablespoon of roast beef and gravy. I couldn’t figure out why I got sooooo fullll soooooo fast! Well we made it through check out and to the car and all of a sudden my tummy and chest felt like an elephant was sitting on it!!! The pain was ridiculous. OH CRAP…what did I do??? I guess I walking around and shoving even that little amount of roast beef in quickly really was a big no-no. I did not chew it up well enough ( I am used to mushie food, and thought this was tender enough) and it was horrible…the whole way home I thought I was gonna puke….but didn’t. It probably would have felt better if I did. When we got home I got the foamies!!! For those that don’t know…foamies are this ectoplasm-like foamy stuff that comes up from the pouch when we pouchy people eat too much or don’t chew our food well enough…ding ding ding ding!!!! We have a winner. Costco is the devil store anyway but I fell right into its clutches today! LOL Silly me, I am still learning about making good choices. I feel much better now…but boy did I learn a quick lesson there. Don’t eat the samples…especially while you are preoccupied and not paying attention to how fast you are eating or how well you are chewing. UGH…no more samples for me Junkies! So tonight I will be on my best behavior. Again though, tonight is about being with family and friends and not about the food. I am glad I had my surgery during the holiday season. It is teaching me how I need to live from now on. Does that mean I don’t or will not enjoy food in my life…heck no! I will always have a love affair with food the difference now is balancing that food love with living life. Healthy and happy. So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanza! This is the time to celebrate life and love, family and friends!
Go here to check out my OfficeMax JibJab Happy Christmas Dance to all my Junkies! Hugs Junkies!!
Where Has the Time Gone?
04 Dec 2010 5 Comments
Hellllloooooo Junkies! Miss me?? Yes, Jere, I know you missed me. I am sorry I haven’t been here for you girl! But I am now and do I have some exciting business to tell you all! First, I have not been posting because I was still feeling pretty icky there for a while. I was dehydrated and having trouble getting my water drinking and protein drinking where it needed to be. I was exhausted and really was not a happy camper. So I haven’t been on the computer much. Fast forward to a few days ago…I feel great!!! GREAT!!! You have no idea, I feel like a new person. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still get tired if I do too much but I am finally feeling very happy about having this surgery…not that I was unhappy about my decision, it was just really hard being so tired and thinking I did all of this to have less energy than I did before I had surgery. I was being way to hard on myself and not giving my bod time to heal. All of that is better now. I am walking everyday (cause right now that is all the doc will let me do). I slap on my iPod with my funky music and just start walking like a crazy woman. I am now up to 2 miles per day…yeah, my ass hurts, but it is sooooo worth it! I feel so much better when I get a walk in. On December 20th I will get the go-ahead for strength training and harder aerobic activity…because believe it or not, while I am walking, my fat ass really has wanted to run a few times…yeah, me, run…hahahahahahaa…okay, stop laughing! Seriously, if you have known me at all, you know that running is not something I have ever, ever done. And now my body is craving it. How strange is that? Actually I am really wanting to start Zumba class…my Aunt has started it and I can’t wait to go with her to a class. It looks so fun. If you haven’t heard of Zumba, look it up online…very cool dancy kinda stuff instead of plain old boring aerobics class.
On to the weigh-in update and such! I did weigh in on my normal day Tuesday. I weighed in at 282 so that put my total weight loss at 44 pounds in six weeks (remember that the first two weeks were before surgery on liquid diet). Well, I did not get my 1 month measurements or pictures done on Tuesday…yes, I celebrated 1 month post surgery on Tuesday! Yay for me! Anyway, today Jay and I had time to do the pictures and measurements so I decided to go ahead and step on the devil scale again. OMG!!!!! I am in a new decade again…already….I weighed 276….I have not weighed 276 for about four freakin years or more! I have now lost 50 pounds. I am halfway to my six month goal of 100 pounds gone. Can you believe that????? 50 pounds is an unreal amount of weight. But I will tell you, as soon as I started walking and getting all of my water in the weight just started falling off even quicker. Something to be said for doing the whole package. Eat healthy, drink your water, exercise and get those vitamins and protein in….you can’t go wrong. Now here is the clincher…yes my Junkies, it gets even cooler! I had taken my measurements, with Jay’s help of course, on the morning of surgery just so I could have the whole picture. So we did my measurements today for the one month mark. I will eventually have a page on here for those measurements as soon as I figure out how to do a table that I can update on here…but for now I will just give you the quick version. I measured my neck, bust, directly under the bust, waste, right upper and left upper arm, hips, right and left thigh and right and left calf. In one month I have lost a total of 19 1/4 inches off of those parts! WHAT??? Yeah. I thought I figured wrong so I did it again…and again. 19 1/4 inches have vanished off of me. Now when you see the new pics I don’t see a huge difference, with the exception of my face. Oh and my boobs actually look bigger in the new pics because it is the same sports bra and now it is too big and won’t hold the saggy, hangy girls up at all!!! So a new sports bra is on my Christmas wish list! I just really wanted to share all of this crazy news with you all. I am still sort of in shock. Again the mental things start coming into play here…I personally don’t see much of a difference because I look at myself everyday and I am still seeing that 326 pound woman looking back at me…it’s mental and I know my mind’s eye will catch up eventually. But I am now fitting into clothes that I couldn’t get on for quite some time and feeling all full of myself with those walks! LOL
I do need to make some public announcements in this section of the blog today….The Healthy Holiday Recipe contest is still underway. I have only received one entry so far my Junkies!!! Now I know you all have some healthy recipes out there. The prizes are sitting here waiting to go out. Let’s give Antreka, our first entry, some competition! Remember the first prize is three lovely William Sonoma bottles of flavored olive oil…yum..as well as a Video of Season 1 from my friends Toni, Lynnda and Mike over at Bariatrictv.com!!!! Please email your recipes to myextrememeltdown@gmail.com before the 18th of December!! Jay, Dylan and I cannot wait to taste them and give you our verdict!
Also please stay tuned as I have some more product reviews and lots of coupons and deals to go with the reviews! Last time I reviewed a product from Wholly Guacamole and I have since received a huge sample pack of goodies to review from Wholly! What an amazing company…more on that in my future posts. I have some Christmas things to talk about too. I am really not in the Christmas spirit yet..but I am slowly getting there. So, even though I have been a slacker on blogging I am now waking up from healing and figuring all of this out…also a swift kick in the blogging rear from our sister Junkie Jere about my lack of blogging..thanks girl I needed that…I will be back on here more often than I have been. This is provided I stay healthy and boy am I trying! I love you all and send you big hugs my Junkies…the newest set of pictures follows..one of these days I will actually post pictures that I am dressed in…heehee!
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- 12-03-10 276 pounds
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- 12-03-10 276 pounds
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- 12-03-10 276 pounds
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- 12-03-10 276 pounds
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- 12-03-10 276 pounds
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- 12-03-10 276 pounds
Weigh-In Day and Yummy Product Reviews
23 Nov 2010 6 Comments
in Good Days, Post Surgery, Uncategorized Tags: 100 calorie packs, avocado, bag salad, buddy fruit, buddy fruits, fruit, guacamole, healthy, mushy phase, natural, produce, salad, walking, weight loss, Weight Loss Surgery, wholly guacamole
Hellllooooo! How is everyone. I hope you are well. I have missed you. I wanted to take today and do some product reviews for foods that I have found to be not only helpful during my mushy phase of living but also healthy and yummy for even the non-weight loss surgery person. These items are getting me through this phase but they are also products I will continue to use for my new healthy life. But first this just in:
It’s weigh-in day…So you all know I have been a bit icky feeling and was so worried that would affect my weight loss efforts. I stepped on the devil scale and I am now at 286!!!! I am in the 280′s….WOW! My next goal was 289 for this week so I will take 286! That is 40 pounds since the liquid diet and 19 pounds gone since surgery. In 21 days I have lost 19 pounds. That is just unreal to me. Again, I’ll take it! I was very flu-like yesterday but I will tell you that the couple of days of rest I have taken have really helped not only my mental state but how I feel physically. I woke up feeling rested and ready to get a few things done. I know I will not over-do it today because I don’t want to wind up in the exhausted state I was in. I am planning on a small walk today….unfortunately, not my mile and half, I just want to take it easy until I have my feet under me. I also have some house work to get knocked out and some preparations for Thanksgiving. Like I said, I am going to be moving slow and resting. I think I learned my lesson about thinking I am super woman. I know I wasn’t giving myself time to heal and rest. My thinking was, I just had weight loss surgery, I can conquer the world! Instead of, I just had weight loss surgery, how about I heal a bit before I leap over tall buildings and all of that super stuff. Hopefully by next week I will be up to par at least for my long walks. Those long ones are just physically impossible for me right now due to exhaustion. And as weird as it seems…I actually miss my longer walks, yes, Sheri Mitchell is missing exercise, crazy. It’s a pain in the ass to actually get out there and start the walk but once I am out there I love the peace that comes during the walk. I just get in my own private world and walk. It’s really nice. Like I said, my goal is to be back in full swing by Monday. I will let you know. As of right now, Jay and I went to Wally World last night to pick up a few last-minute T-Day things and just doing that made me so tired and cranky. I am thinking around the block today will do me just fine. So now onto a couple of product reviews!
The first product I found while searching for mushy healthy food was in my local Wal-Mart Super Center’s cold produce section. You know, right next to the pre-made salad bags. It is called Buddy Fruit. Buddy Fruit comes in a recyclable, resealable, one serving pouch. Each pouch contains 100% fruit and nothing
else. These little pouches are so convenient. They are like softer applesauce but in many flavors. And you can take them anywhere. For me a serving is about 1/2 of a pouch so I love that they are resealable and portable. I have to pack a little meal bag when I go out and about so these are just perfect to get my fruit serving in. And in my case…already mushed. The pouches are perfect healthy, yummy snacks for your little ones too. Kids love something different and here is a fun healthy snack that is different. For some kids it is difficult to get in their full servings of fruit and vegies. Here is way to do it that makes fruit-eating fun. If you go to the Buddy Fruit website and register for their newsletter and also go to their Facebook
page you can be involved in contests, coupons and giveaways. This is a great snack and Buddy Fruits make everything 100% Natural, no additives and junk going on here.
The next product I want to review is a staple for me. This was actually a staple for me even before surgery. It is a product from the company Wholly Guacamole. I obviously have to have small portions and the 100 calorie packs of Wholly Guacamole are just perfect for me. I eat guac on just about everything. I eat in my beans, chili, taco meat, chicken…you name it I can find a way to get avocado or guac into my food. And I am not talking guacamole dip or some full of additives crap that tastes like over-salted sour cream. Wholly Guacamole is not any of this. When you open a pack of this guac it is like cutting a fresh avocado and smashing it up a bit. Wonderful, fresh and so yummy good for us! The good fats in avocado are so useful to our heart, skin and overall well-being this is the perfect way to get it in. At only 100 calories per mini pack you can’t go wrong getting in some healthy. And think about this, if you cut open an avocado they usually go all icky brown before you can get the whole thing eaten up. Besides that, if you eat the whole avocado to get rid of it before it gets icky that is lots of calories. I personally cannot eat even a full 100 calorie pack because of my baby pouch so I just re-seal mine with my sealer or if I don’t feel like dragging that out (I usually don’t) I just roll up the little pack and put a clippy on it. Or Jay will finish it off for me! Check these ingredients!
All healthy yumminess! You get three 100 calorie packs per box. I find mine in the refrigerated produce section, again, by the bag salad. Wholly Guacamole has many many products. So make sure you go check their website out. All of their products are natural and the ones I have eaten have all been really yummy. Just email the company if you have any questions and make sure to tell them you were sent by extrememeltdown.wordpress.com Who knows, they might give us coupons….I don’t know but it might be worth a try! Try this product though or one of their many others!
Well Junkies, that is all for today. I have many more product reviews coming up and lots of stories to share. Make sure you all have a safe and fun Thanksgiving. I am not sure if I will be posting before then but if I do I will let you know. Hugs Junkies!
Finally A Post!
21 Nov 2010 4 Comments
Long time no post Junkies! Life caught hold of me here in Extremeville so here we go with an update on my baby pouch life. I am warning you all…I am gonna whine a bit here. I know, what’s new? I am now 19 days out of surgery and quite honestly I am completely exhausted. I am still on mushy food until December 23, which is fine, no problem eating mushy stuff three times a day at about 1/4 cup or less at a time. Believe me, you become quite creative. Last night was really good because the meal actually seemed like the first “real” meal I have had in forever. I made some flounder and really soft, cheesy broccoli, cauliflower vegies. I ate it on a plate (very small plate) and not all mushed up together in a teeny bowl because the fish and vegies were soft enough to just eat. It was quite lovely. But on to the dark side of my last week or so. I am still having a terrible time getting in my protein and liquids. The down side of this is that I am so crazy exhausted. At one point this week I almost made Jay take me up to the doc’s office to see if I needed to go in for dehydration. But I forced the liquids in and I am feeling better slowly. There are a couple of problems with the protein and liquid thing and I have mentioned a bit of this before. Once I start drinking I feel really really bloated and full so it is hard to get even more liquid in. Don’t get me wrong, full is amazing, I don’t think I have felt full since I was 12. The other issue is I cannot seem to find a protein that I can tolerate without it making me ill…really ill! Nausea sucks. There is actually one more issue, now that I have had surgery, sweets are just not my thing. I know that this will change as I progress but right now, sweets are icky! And most protein drinks are…..sweet which equals…icky. With all of this happening it brings up some major mind games. Major Mind Games here…I have brought with me Sergent Self -Esteem Sucks and Lieutenant Loser, we will be interrogating you today and making sure you feel like complete crap and total failure on this journey. Seriously, my mind began to reel with the thoughts of failure and how I mess everything up…why can’t I succeed at anything? Now, logically I know that this is crazy self-talk. But when you have fought your weight your whole life and failed miserably and you are on that last chance and have no patience with yourself…you start that crazy head game with yourself. Am I gonna fail, am I gonna be able to do this the right way, am I gonna be the wls community poster-child of complete failure?? All of this because I am tired and can’t get protein and water in. Now wait one minute, you say, on the last weigh-in day had you not lost 14 pounds in 14 days after surgery? Why yes, yes I have. So what the hell is wrong with you Sheri? Well, first I am really messed up in the head with all the weight games I have put myself through over the years. Second, to me now, the weight loss is number one but also right up there is my health. I did this to first and foremost lose weight, but also to get healthy. And I have not been feeling real healthy this week at all. I have been walking a mile and half and haven’t been able to do that everyday this week because I am so exhausted…I got in three days this week. That to me is not acceptable. Here comes the freaky perfectionist…all or nothing Sheri! I am happy I got in three days, don’t get me wrong, that is more than I walked in the whole of last year think! I just have some expectations of what I need to get healthy and I need to get over the black and white of it and realize there are some gray areas. There is the rub, I am scared of the gray areas. If I give myself a little bit of gray area, like being so tired I cannot move, that may cause me to delve into old habits of lazy crap that I may never come out of. I don’t give myself a break because I am scared of the break. I want this to work so bad that I am getting crazy with the whole process. I know that I just need patience and calmness and a realization that I am human. Before in any weight loss effort I would expect this complete perfection and the second I didn’t meet up to my own expectations I would fall and fall hard and go the extreme opposite end of the spectrum thinking, well I failed again, I am not perfect so I might as well be horrible in my food choices and just do whatever! Why do I think I have to be perfect to succeed? The answer is: I don’t have to be perfect.
So in all of this time of exhaustion and worry I am actually learning. Yes, as thick-headed as I am, I am learning. Yesterday’s water and protein intake was darn near “perfect”….meaning I actually almost hit the exact targets my nut set up for me. Yay me! What I am learning though is after most of my life of living in the black and white and living an unhealthy existence that I am doing just fine only 3 weeks into my new life. I cannot expect to change every thought pattern and lifestyle pattern overnight and become “perfect”. This is just asking too much of myself and I have figured out that I just have to live every moment for what it is and go slowly and expect gray most of the time! I will get there. If this is the way it needs to be to get me healthy and happy then so be it. Life is not perfect…thank God! And even with this wonderful surgery changing my life, the surgery doesn’t make things perfect either. Thank God! I like that I am learning a new way of life even though it is really hard sometimes.
PS…don’t forget to send me your healthy holiday recipes to win some super cool stuff at myextrememeltdown@gmail.com hugs Junkies
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