Angie & Catherine hooked me up!

I asked Catherine if she had any goodies left to share with me from her stash recently.  She didn't but she sent me an email of her friend Tracy who totally hooked me up!!!  She sent me 2 dresses in a 16 and one fit!!!  I would need some supportive undergarments but it fits!!  Check it out!

 

The other dress is stinkin' adorable (black halter - think: little black dress!) but it has zero give so that one will have to wait until I am actually a 16 I think!! Haha!

She also sent me several 1x and XL tshirts and all of the tees fit me fine (Hallelujah, even a GAP tshirt which I didn't think would fit since it was gap!).  She also sent me a pair of size 16 Ralph Lauren jeans... I tried them on for shits and giggles and VOILA! they fit too!!!  I got some MAD muffintop out of those beasts but dammit, they buttoned!

 

Yikes, check out that ass shelf!  Trust me, it goes all the way around in these jeans!!

The hubby was taking all sorts of pictures of me that night... check out this picture where he made me pose!!!  I have one of him right behind me too but he retook it so he wasn't in the shot, LOL.

That cracks me up!!  OK, so then she also sent me a pair of workout pants... they are a 1x :)  Here's me in them with one of the tshirts she sent!

Also, my dear, darling, Angie sent me that size 18 American Eagle skirt she mentioned in her blog a while back.  I kept meaning to take a picture for her and the one night before work I was all ready and wearing it and the freaking camera batteries were dead.  So it goes.  Angie, here's your pictures :)  One of me holding my gut in the mirror, lol, and the other of me sticking my tatas out... wtf, no decent pics, LOL.

 

 

Alrighty, folks... that was a WHOLE lotta Tiffani!  Hope you enjoyed it, LOL!!  Hope everyone had a great weekend too!

ATTENTION FORMERLY FAT GIRL!!!!

Hey darlin'!  Just wanted to let you know I can't comment on your blog and from the looks of it I am not the only one!  I can get a box to show up to type a comment but then the word verification comes up and there's no scrolling down to "submit" or "post comment" thus creating a road block to post a comment.  Just thought you might like to know!!  Way to go on those 18s!!!

Thanks :) and plastic surgery talk!

Thanks for all the lovely comments from my pictures and 4 mos anniversary post! :) I don't have much to say (have been pretty boring and lazy lately) but wanted to post to say as much.

Also, I was asked what my thoughts are on plastic surgery so I thought I'd give that a go.

As of right now I have no loose skin but just a bunch of fat-filled skin still. Sounds like I'm ripping on myself but I'm just being honest. I have a small (see, I can be nice) apron of a belly and then I have that top roll... the non-muffintop muffintop as I saw it referred to as. It doesn't touch the belly part of my abdomen, it is just there... it's gotten smaller so I hope it just disappears. The apron seems to be just getting smaller at this point as well. I have NO idea what my body will look like when all is said and done. I am definitely not opposed to having some sort of plastic surgery to make things tighter that won't get tighter by working out. I would consider a breast lift at this point already but since I have more work to do I'll wait.

I know I'll consider a tummy tuck one day but I am not done having children and that seems like a silly idea to even ponder until I'm done having all my babies. BTW - I'm thinking 2-3 kids is a good number and I have one already. Also, I wouldn't consider the breast lift until post-babies as well since I'm pro-breastfeeding and babies do crazy things to your boobies!

Another area I'd love to have done is the flags under my arms. UGH! I have ALWAYS had this so I expect I'll have them for the duration. You can touch the hanging skin there and it is just that and has always been... hanging skin! Nasty. I've always been self-conscious of it but I'm not sure if I'd be self-conscious of the big nasty scar you get from that surgery.... something to consider anyways.

So that's that... what surgeries do you think you would consider?

Picture post... 4 mos!

The side view shot. :)

Front view. Size 18 jeans, XL top, L cami. (not fond of the roll in the middle but it's not muffin top.. just THERE! Perhaps from years of wearing my jeans right under that roll??)

Being a goofball, LOL.

Finally, being AMY!!!! LOL

As I took the last shot I said, "LOOK I'M AMY!" and as the hubby shot it he goes, "WHO'S AMY!?" LOL Imitation is the best form of flattery, Amy.. love you girl!

Blogger needs some love!!

Alright ladies, we need to show some love to Kinzie over at A Band New Me. She's a new blogger and I think she's gonna have some great things to say!! :) Hook her up!

4 months :)

Today is four months since my surgery :) I had the hubby take pictures a few minutes ago but we're ducking out the door. Just wanted to post to mark the occasion in case I don't get back on tonight!

(Btw - I'm wearing a shirt that makes me feel like a bubble. It's got elastic or something on the bottom so it hugs at my thighs, or wherever I put it, and bubbles out in the stomach... get that? Anyways.. I don't hate it so much because it's an XL and I'm so happy with that that I'm gonna overlook the bubble feeling!!!)

Jeans Sale!! and Weigh-in Day!

Whew, what a day! Woke up, hit the gym for an ass-whooping by my trainer. We quit a few minutes early to take my measurements and that was a good boost for the day since they were each about an inch less than they were last time (5 weeks ago). I did notice that NONE of the measure tapes start on zero. One of them has a gap before the first line marker and the second one has a little plastic doo-dad that cuts off half of the first inch. So my measurements aren't accurate and I'm not pleased. My trainer said as long as I measure with the same one each time they'll be consistent but I don't like that answer. I want ACCURACY people. ARGH!

Anywho, then it was showtime at home... weigh-in day! The scale spoke to me again with another 1/2 lb loss this week and I'll take it once again. I'm not gonna complain one bit about a loss no matter how it comes! I love it :)

So, once I was up and moving I took the bub to lunch. She requested Red Robin. Oy. Well, I ordered the cripsy chicken tender salad. I ate all the chicken off the top first (I have always done this, don't know why) and then I was full, lol. I got a giant box and I'll have salad for 3-4 more meals. The kiddo had mac and cheese if you wanted to know. ;)

Old Navy is across the street from RR so we stopped in there afterward. They are having a jeans sale and I need me some jeans that fit so why not. Well, who knew they carried up to a 20 in the store!? And if you answered that you knew why didn't you tell me!? They even had my size - 18 short - in stock... well bust my buttons, I was so stinkin' happy! I picked a couple styles and colors to try and wound up taking them both home with me. Then shirt-wise I came away with two XL shirts (WTF... when did I fit in normal sizes!??!?!). One's a nicer shirt that I will wear tomorrow to dinner with my cousin at the Melting Pot (OMG I am craving it already!!), the other is just a 3/4 length, t-shirt material top with a deep cut v-neck. I got a tank/cami in a L (HUH!?) to wear underneath it. The kiddo's only request was a spiderman t-shirt in pink and a bumblebee neck pillow. I got her the neck pillow since we'll (hopefully) be traveling soon for a family vacation and let's face it.. it was stinkin' adorable!

Hope you all enjoy your weekend!! I know mine's off to a great start!!!

Ridiculous Question!

A sample of what our DL's look like in our state. This chick weighs 100 lbs LOL.

My driver's license is up for renewal on my birthday this year, 09/09/09. My current weight on my DL is 220. Well, guess what... I don't weigh that. But guess what what (yes, I meant to do that)... I weighed 35+ lbs more than that when I got my license! Big ol' lie and I probably wasn't kidding anybody, lol.

So my ridiculous question is what should I put my weight as on my DL?! I know it's going to keep going down so a part of me wants to put like 185 or something but I also feel really bad about lying about being under 200... I certainly didn't feel bad putting 220 as my lie because that was still a lot but somehow putting less than 200 feels like a really big lie and I shouldn't do it!! I also don't want to have to go back and change my weight on my DL in a few months because it's way off and I'm embarrassed to pull it out... not embarrassed I guess.. more like I would be excited to change it again because I passed under the weight again, know what I mean?

So help... what's a girl to do!?

Soooo close!

I can almost taste 30 lbs lost... it's RIGHT THERE!

Yesterday I weighed in and it delighted me with putting me at 28.8 lbs lost. This morning I was up a lb or so... figures. I fluctuate SO much!! Those people that say they weigh the same as yesterday.. yeah... that's just not happening in this house. I go up and down all day and all night is my best guess. Hate it. At any rate... I was 214.8 yesterday. That's less than 15 lbs til onederland... wtf, where did THAT come from!? Wasn't onederland like this FAR FAR away land that I would never get to!? Well, not anymore ... wow.

People... I'm almost not ashamed of my weight now. I'm actually writing my weight on my blog these days... I didn't do that in the beginning. My ticker up top says I'm 41 some lbs from my highest weight ever. I status updated on Facebook that this (the highest weight) was the weight that my high school friends knew me at. Crazy..

I felt like I was floating all day at work yesterday too. I was just in SUCH a good mood! I don't think tonight will go as well but I just keep looking forward to Thursday to start my 5 days off ;) I really need to quit my job.

Here's to another big weight loss so I can get to my 30 lbs!!! I want it, I can smell it... bring it!

Weigh-in Day

Not our picture but basically what it looked like :)

Well, it's Friday and I had to record my weight. Of course, last night I went for dinner and drinks (had one!) with a good friend so I'm sure I would have lost more had I not done that... boo. Anyways, I'm down a 1/2 lb this week from last Friday. I'll take it! :) Going from not losing for soooo long to starting to lose ANY amount of weight sure does make you feel grateful!! :)

Last night we went to a Japanese restaurant and did the hibachi table experience. My friend had never had it before so we shared the "dinner for 2" option so she could try more things. We also shared a sushi roll and I think I only had 2 pieces and took the rest home to the hubby. Then dinner consisted of steak, chicken, scallops and the typical veggies and such. Soup and salad came first too but I just ate the soup. I'm not fond of the ginger dressing on their salads. Anyways, it was delicious and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Boo to the scale but a loss is a loss!!! :)

Oops, more to say!

Couple things I forgot to mention... first being clothes.

Sarah - all but one top you sent is too big. Not a bad thing but I can't wear most of them... soooooo if anyone is looking to be the recipient of this stuff just let me know! It's mostly 2x or 22/24w I'd guess.

The Old Navy shipment I got a couple weeks ago was all too big except for the pants. I took my 3 mos photos in one of the tops actually and the jeans. I exchanged them and finally got them today. I plan to take pics over again with the correct size top on and compare how I look :) Btw- all the tops fit now... in a 1x :) in the store the XL and the occasional XXL fit fine :) YAY!

The second thing is pregnancy. Last night at the meeting I asked what their policy is on removing fluid in the case of a pregnant bandster. The gal leading the bandsters was the program manager and also an RN. She said they just closely monitor you and if you're doing ok without having it removed then they leave it alone. I had read about some clinics routinely removing all the fluid right off and that scared me so I'm glad to hear they are a bit more rational on the whole topic. YAY!

OK... gotta go get ready for work! Ewww...

Tuesday, an up and a down!

Another picture from the party on Saturday :) just me and my girl in a "moment!" :)

I leave for work in about an hour.. blech. I pretty much dread going to work these days. I really don't know why I am still there. I think I feel a sense of guilt. If I leave no one will know how to do the insurance I do and that leaves them hanging. Yet, no one seems to want to LEARN so why should I care!? That's actually my down in the title.

My up is actually a down haha.. I'm down in weight again!!!! I'm at 216 even and that makes me at another low. I'm down 27.6 lbs now and I'm HAPPY that the damn scale is going in the right direction again.

Last night I went to the monthly support group and as usual we split up into three groups. Pre-op bypass (millions), post-op bypass (millions), and band pre and post-op (5 people). Seriously.. why is it such a minority?!?! I feel like maybe the people that want the bypass are looking for the quick fix and not really looking into their options. I could be TOTALLY out of my league but why do more people not choose the band??

Anyways, it was nice to talk with just band people again. Some familiar faces, some new. One gal was pre-op. I think she would have chose bypass as well but she is self-pay and they only allow you to self-pay for band because of the potential complications with the bypass. I didn't really walk away from this meeting feeling like I had any new information but it was nice just to talk to fellow bandsters again.

Hair, or the lack of it

YIKES!!!! This was my super adorable (yeahhhh) hairstyle while I ate my dinner at the party Saturday. The wind was blowing my hair everywhere and I couldn't get a bite in my mouth without eating a handful of hair too. My brother-in-law came to the rescue with two hairties and I managed to whip up this beauty of a style. It did the job.

Chris took a picture to show me what it looked like and when I saw it on my computer I almost cried. I knew my hair was coming out because well... I take showers. It was coming out in my hands with each stroke through my hair :( recently. I had thin enough hair as it is.

Come back to me hair!!!

My Weekend (& my 50th post!)

Well, these pics loaded backward... I guess from now on I will upload them backward from last to first and they'll be on my blog the opposite way... good to know! So the weekend in pics! The first picture here is of my sister and me. I thought it was good to own up and show a full body shot of me on the internet. I'm standing with my gut out but what the heck, here I am! Also, thought it good to point out the weight issues that rack my family. :( It's a pretty common theme as you'll see. My sister, Niomi, was pursuing gastric bypass for a while but stopped. She thought she could do it on her own. I don't think that's the case but we'll see. It's not really my business. I just try and insert my 2 cents whenever she'll hear me. :)

We had a fabulous weekend!! Friday night we met up with good friends Dana and Craig and had dinner. We were supposed to go the BBQ & Blues festival but it was rainy and yucky so we met up at an Irish pub and had drinks and dinner. I had the fish fry and it was FANTASTIC! I also found out that Dana reads my blog and doesn't comment. The naughty girl!!! So HI Dana!! Comment away :)

Saturday we woke up early and head off to my Grandma's 80th birthday celebration. We had a park shelter reserved but it was, once again, raining. It was relocated to a family member's garage and eventually it did stop raining and we moved out onto the driveway and had a party!!
This is me and the birthday girl! Her name is Norma Claire and my kiddo is Cadence Claire, named for her. She is definitely my favorite lady and I love her to pieces. We have a great connection and often find ourselves contacting each other only to hear, "I was JUST going to call/write/email you!!!" I just adore her.
I thought this was an interesting picture. I'm eating and I don't hate the picture... a RARE (ok, pretty nonexistent) moment. I wanted to post this though because you can see the mass amounts of food on my brother's plate (far left) and he finished before I did. Most people do and actually, most have seconds before I finish one plate. It helps to fit in though since I'm still eating while everyone else is and no one asks why I'm not eating. In this picture are all the men in my immediate family. Left to right is my brother, Bill, me, my younger brother, Adam, and my dad, Bill.
This is a lovely shot to have gotten! Pictured here is my Grandma with all her grands and greats. She has 7 grands and 7 greats! :) Believe it or not the kiddo with the peace sign on his shirt is a grand and he shares a birthday with Emily (second from right) who is a great.
Then there's this picture. It just makes me giggle. This is my sister-in-law, Kate and me. Guess which one of us knew the picture was being taken??? I like the picture of me though because I'm leaning in and sticking my neck out and so I don't have any double chin action going on. ;) It's the little things!! I also thought I look relatively thin here and ya gotta love that!!

I have some more pics to share but I don't want to mess up this post by adding more pics so I'll make a new one for them. Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!!

Small Victories

Well guys.. today on official weigh-in day I was back up a pound. Keeping in mind it's that TOM... I'll take it. If you compare to last Friday I'm actually DOWN 1.2 lbs!! Too bad I didn't keep that lb off from yesterday, that would have been a great weight loss for a week... but you know what?! So is 1.2!! Dang my outlook has changed, lol.

I blame part of the problem on that darn Pampered Chef party I went to last night. I ate this DELICIOUS soup called "Loaded Baked Potato Chowder" and this yummy little "After Dinner Mint Tart" or some such. Then she made this lava cake in the microwave and well.. I'm sure that pushed me over the edge. The soup was so good I ate two servings and was SO full that I couldn't try the cake until right before the end of the party about an hour and a half later, lol. FABULOUS soup though and I have the recipe and will be making it! It's made in the deep covered baker in the microwave!!! I have the baker here at home so it's a go next week!! Amy, it would have been great if you could have come along!!! :)

Today I'm having lunch with my co-worker who is off on maternity leave. We're great friends and I miss talking to her as much as we did at work!! We're going to Cheeseburger in Paradise and I already know what I'm going to get. St. Barts Citrus Chicken Marinated chicken breasts seasoned, grilled and served over Island Rice with Teriyaki Boccoli (from the menu on the website). LOVE it and it's pretty healthy :) I'll wind up eating a small amount and having tons left over which is always great!!

Later today I need to boil brats for my grandma's 80th birthday party tomorrow. We were in charge of bringing the meat and no one wants raw brats so I have to boil them before we grill them. The people count just went up to 38 so we have half a ton of burgers, brats, and hot dogs... yikes!

Tonight we're going to a festival called BBQ & Blues where there's basically music, booze and food. Should be a good time. Hubby works for the newspaper and got free passes so even better! We're meeting some friends we haven't seen in a while too so it will be great to catch up with them.

Here's hoping it doesn't rain out any of our weekend events!!!!!

Enjoy the weekend ladies!!!

Down AGAIN!!

I just wanted to post really quick and say I was down another .2 lbs this morning!!! I will take that .2 of a lb and KEEP it, thank you very much! I am sooooo thankful for .2 after stalling on the same weight for months. Yes, months. I didn't think I'd stall so soon after surgery but I did... and it sucked. It looks like things are moving again and I am SO thankful.

Did I mention how thankful I am to be moving again??? ;)

Now... off to a Pampered Chef party... eeek, we'll see who wins tomorrow... me vs. scale.

Another low!!

Dang. Being naughty has never felt so good. I stepped on the scale again this morning (naughty again! weigh-in is Friday) and it rewarded me with a new all-time low!!! 216.6 this morning :) Oh what a feeling. I'm beginning to think that this last fill might have been a good one for me!! I'm officially down 27 lbs this morning which is DAMN close to 30 and ya just gotta love that!! Oh and how CLOSE is that to being under 200 lbs?! WOW!!!

I need to blog more apparently...

Yesterday I blogged that my weight hasn't gone down in a long time and today I stepped on the scale on a non-weigh-in day (naughty!) and I weigh my lowest weight ever... for the second time. The last time I stepped on the scale and weighed this much was 7/7/09... then it went back up a smidge and stayed there for a long.long.long.long time. I'm very happy to be here again :D I just hope I can stick it out... this is the week of the month, if ya know what I mean. I have wanted to eat nothing but junk... or should I say everything AND junk.

So woohoo for being 26.4 lbs down since pre-op liquids!!! Go me!!!

Thanks for the support ladies!

I just got a letter, err... package!

Our lovely blog buddy, Sarah, sent me some lovely new shirts!! She sent me WAY more than I ever imagined I'd be lucky enough to get! I haven't tried any on because I wanted to blog about it but I think I'll wait until the hubster is around so he can take pictures for me to share! There was a really pretty floral, dressy top in there... I'll have to find the occasion to wear the one because it's super pretty!

Thank you SO much, Sarah!!! I appreciate it!!! :)

Happy Monday

Hello everyone! We had an excellent weekend here. We took Cadence to a nice place for dinner on Friday night. Really, we wanted scallops and LOVE this place's scallops so she came along. We threatened a beating if she was naughty ;) but she did really well and it was a very nice time.

Saturday we had a housewarming party to attend. My cousin and her husband bought their home in December but just got around to having a gathering to show it off. It was a nice time and we stayed until 10:30 or so that night.. it was fun!

My victory from the party was that they had those big plates with compartments on them for food. You know the ones?? Big rectangular styrofoam plates with little squares and big squares for separating food. Well... I put my meat in the big square and then side salads in the other ones and there were OPEN spots! The places that did have food were only partially full because I know my limits and didn't want to waste. I wound up not eating all the food I took anyways!!! Actually, I didn't care for one of the salads and I was just plain FULL (not even.. more satisfied!) to finish the rest. I actually felt like people were looking at me funny when I sat down because my plate was so not full.

I did step on the scale and it was down but knowing how my body works I won't change my ticker until the actual weigh day. I'm sick of weighing what I weigh quite frankly. Time for some moving down, please? :D