I LOVE Bariatric Pal

I LOVE the website Bariatric Pal. It is so full of information for all weight loss surgeries. There is a lot of activity on the Sleeve Board, both pre surgery and post surgery. There's lots of great support there and I visit the site from time to time. They also just started selling bariatric supplements, which is helpful.

It's good to visit the site, but don't believe everything you read. These are just individuals experiences. If you read too much you may get scared and experiences vary, as each person has different factors that make their situation unique. You may find a few people who live in your area, used the same surgeon or have a similar BMI. Online buddies are always good for support. It's also nice to visit the post surgery forum and see people having reached and maintaining goal weight. You can also read about the pitfalls some people fell into, so that you can avoid them.

My surgery is about five weeks. I know it will fly by. I just want to be as prepared as possible for this journey. I have a to thank a few of my "in person" friends who have had the Sleeve surgery before me-they have been a blessing and are always happy to answer questions for me. Bariatric Pal is a great site to learn about weight loss surgery, as well as what the journey entails.

And the date is....

Not as soon as I thought! Monday, November 30th. I was thinking early November but was told that Cigna is taking four weeks to approve patients for this surgery. I then had the choice of scheduling the surgery the Monday before Thanksgiving or the Monday after, so I choose the Monday after-also known as cyber Monday. I get to enjoy one more Thanksgiving.

My mind was set for surgery in about 3-4 weeks, so I had to adjust it to be six weeks. Not a big deal. I have one more meeting with my surgical team two weeks prior and they will go over all the dos and don'ts, what medications to start and stop etc. It was referred to as a "huddle".

I weighed in yesterday and met with the surgeon. She's very nice and I really like her. She really took the time to speak with me and was very thorough. I really trust her.  She would like me to lose 60 pounds, I hope to lose 70-75. I don't know if they round up or round down your height when calculating BMI, but if they rounded down, my BMI yesterday was cutting it close at 35.1.

I also met with the dietitian and we went over some things, including what a liquid diet consists of and what a pureed diet consists of. I will see the dietitian again two weeks post surgery as I transition from a liquid diet to a pureed one.

I am excited, hopeful and a bit nervous. I can't believe I made it this far. Paperwork for approval is being sent in as we speak. The office did not feel I would be denied, so I am not going to worry about that.  I'm just preparing for one of the biggest and best changes of my life!

Big Day Tomorrow!

Well, tomorrow is the big day! Tomorrow is my last dietitian appointment and appointment with my bariatric surgeon, Dr. Laura Choi. Either tomorrow or Wednesday, the office will submit everything to my insurance company, Cigna-all the tests results, notes from doctor visits, etc. They will also set a surgery date, which I have  a feeling will be the first week of November. So exciting. Once I have a date, it will feel real!

I am very mindful of what I will weigh when I step on the scale tomorrow. I have been riding the fine line for the last few months of not losing too much weight. If I lost 9 pounds, I would disqualify, if I gained I would disqualify, and my end weight (tomorrow) has to be less than my starting weight.  It's exhausting, but I worth while. I would like to go into the surgery as low as possible, so I have less to lose post surgery.

All the appointments, all the tests, all the consultations, will culminate into something real. I am already thinking ahead to how I'm going to look at goal and have worked to change my diet and exercise habits. I have to say, it's a really exciting time. I already feel better mentally and emotionally just knowing a change is about to happen.

I'll keep you posted on how things go tomorrow.

But I want that blouse SO bad...

I was out shopping today and really, really wanted to buy a few of these Earth Yoga long sleeve tees. They were cute and comfy looking.

I got excited, one style I really wanted was there in XXL. So hard to find. I grabbed it like I was at the Hunger Games. I placed it in front of me. It would definitely fit. Then I thought, why am I buying XXL tops? This won't fit me right by New Years and do I really want to wear very large clothes as I am losing weight? No. So, I put it down and grabbed an XL, but I don't want to wear that size for very long either and put that one down too. I loved the shirts so much I had to buy ONE! So I came up with a solution-I decided to buy one for my daughter, who wears a women's size medium. She loved it and I hope to be borrowing it from her next fall! 

Right now, I will not buy shoes, undergarments of clothing of any kind. My family says I should, but I don't see the point, as in a few months I will need to go shopping for transitional clothes. I look at the "in between" sizes as temporary wardrobes and hope to build a new wardrobe in a size medium in a year or less. It will be so exciting buying new clothes in a much smaller size. I remember how fun it used to be to shop the two times I got to goal on Weight Watchers. One time I went below goal and was wearing size 5 and 6 jeans and medium tops-it was awesome! 

I feel like even the nicest quality, most expensive clothes do not look good on you when you are overweight. You could be thin and wear a ratty T-shirt and jeans and look fine. It's just my opinion.

So I hope to be wearing THIS TOP in the photo one year from now..when I am a happy medium!

Wardrobe Worries!

Wardrobe worries! I think about clothes a lot lately. I often talking about ditching my tired wardrobe of size 16s and 18s, XLs and 2XLS and trading them in for Mediums.

I know while losing weight, I will go through sizes very quickly and I don't want to invest a lot of money in temporary clothes. I have some clothes one, two and three sizes smaller, just hanging out in my closet, taking up space. I can definitely tap into that, but I know there aren't many and they are probably of style. I hate wearing the same clothes over and over again, for the most part.

The other day I stumbled upon something that seemed too good to be true. It was an ad on Facebook for Gwynnie Bee's unlimited wardrobe plan. Basically, you rent a wardrobe and pick up out items in your size and return them when you are done. They carry womens' sizes 10-32 as well as accessories. Mailing and laundering is free and if you fall in love with a piece, you can buy it! Here's the details of how it works. Plans range in cost from $35 to $79 a month, with a one month free trial. It's something I am considering while losing weight. Any thoughts? Has anyone tried this?