RECIPE: Infamous Glazed Carrots

My family hated these, but I happen to love them! You can read the story of how these became "infamous" on my blog.  You can make glazed carrots with pretty much anything that contains sugar. When you heat it, some of the liquid evaporates and it reduces down into a syrup-like glaze.

The first time I made these, I used frozen carrots. I've also made them with canned carrots. I'm sure I'd like them with fresh carrots as well. Just make sure that the carrots are cooked until fork-tender before you add them to the glaze.

Infamous Glazed Carrots

1 can sliced carrots, drained (or fresh or frozen, but make sure you cook them first)
1 Tbsp. orange juice concentrate
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. dried cranberries (Craisins)

In a skillet, combine the orange juice concentrate, the butter, the cranberries, and the maple syrup, and cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes until thick and syrupy. Add the carrots and brown sugar and toss to coat, keeping over the heat until the carrots are heated through.

Makes 4 side-dish servings (approximately 1/3 cup each)

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When weight gain isn't a bad thing

Just as I expected, I did my Wednesday Weigh-In and I gained weight this week. I started running regularly again (4 weeks post-op) and as I mentioned, starting an exercise program ALWAYS makes me either gain or maintain my weight for a couple of weeks. Which can be frustrating, if you're only looking at the number on the scale!

However, we all know that exercise is GOOD for us... and as long as we're not eating like pigs, we're not going to gain fat from exercise. I took an A.C.E. personal training course years ago, and one thing that really struck me was that our muscles retain water when we start an exercise program--and they hold onto that water until we stop our exercise program. (Which is probably part of the reason why I dropped 9 pounds the week after surgery--I stopped exercising, and my muscles released all that water). So if you're a regular exerciser, your muscles are probably holding onto some water at all times.

When you see the number on the scale go up after starting an exercise program, you may have lost some fat from exercise, but gained water weight, and that's why the number on the scale kind of sucks. (At least this is how I understand it, from the class I took). This was clear to me today when I recorded my weight and my body fat percentage.

My weight went UP (just half a pound, but it was up nonetheless) and my body fat percentage went DOWN. Meaning the weight I gained had to be the water weight I was talking about.

Weight is 135, up 0.5 pounds from last week

Body fat is 19.6%, down 0.8% from last week

The reason I mention all of this is because if any of you notice a small gain or you're having a hard time losing weight when you start an exercise program, it's not necessarily a bad thing. If you're doing everything "right" (meaning you're eating well, not gorging yourself, and you're exercising) then you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Keep in mind that every BODY is different, so this may not be the case for everyone. It's just something I noticed over my (many, many, many) years of yo-yo dieting. It usually takes me about 2-3 weeks before I start noticing a good drop in weight again (and that was when I was very heavy, so this is new territory for me right now). I'm only two pounds from my goal weight, so it should be interesting to see how long it takes me to get there :)

I've been binge-free for 5 weeks and 2 days now!! I'm much prouder of that accomplishment than I am from the weight loss I've had over those weeks. I still struggle with urges to binge, but I keep reminding myself that once I do it ONE TIME, it'll be so much easier to get back in the bingeing habit, always promising to start a new streak "tomorrow". I'm determined to beat my last binge-free streak!

(By the way, if you've sent me e-mail recently and I haven't responded yet, I'm not ignoring you--I've been putting all my spare computer time and focus on switching the blog to WordPress--but since I gave up on that, hopefully I'll get caught up on e-mails this week).

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What a fantastic run!

I was SO frustrated this morning. I decided that today was the day I was going to make the switch from Blogger to WordPress. I've been reading non-stop about doing it all week long, and decided it'd be best to do while the kids are in school and I can have some peace and quiet to think. I signed up for a hosting account (after TONS of research on what one to use). And then I was clueless.

I had tutorials all ready to follow... but all the things the tutorials showed were not what I was seeing on my screen. I was completely lost. After about an hour, I called customer service and canceled the account for a full refund. It was just too complicated for me.

I really felt like ripping my hair out and screaming at the computer before throwing it into the fire pit in our backyard and lighting it... but instead, I pulled my Cold Gear pants out of the hamper (unwashed, because I'm that on-top of my laundry) and put them on to go for a run.

Immediately, I felt like this run was going to be much different from my last one. With the exception of a small twinge of soreness in my left hip, my body felt almost back to normal (as in, before surgery). I didn't get that horrible burning in my lungs that I did last week. And I was moving pretty quickly, compared to my other post-op runs.

It was about 32 degrees out, but not windy at all and it felt so good! After about two miles, I started to feel fatigued--but I kept pushing myself to keep my pace under 10:00/mi. I was so glad that my lungs weren't burning, that I didn't mind fatiguing my muscles. Once I hit 3 miles, I stopped my Garmin and walked the rest of the way home (about 1/8 of a mile). Normally, I run until I reach my driveway, but I was tired enough that I just wanted to walk after reaching 3 miles!

I was so happy to see that my pace improved drastically since my last run:

My last run (which I still have to upload) was on Friday and it was the exact same distance. I finished in 32:58 (11:00/mi), and it was ROUGH.  So I've knocked 1:14/mi off my time since Friday!

Yesterday marked five weeks post-op for me. I wasn't going to post new comparison pictures, because my belly truly does look the same as Week 4 post-op--but I noticed something when I was looking at the pictures. Remember how, right after surgery, I was concerned about my belly button being off-center?

See how it seems to have migrated over to where it should be? Awesome!

I read that swelling can cause it to look off-center, but I didn't really believe that (your belly button actually stays in place after a tummy tuck--so if it's off-center, that means it was off-center before surgery). Now I can see it very clearly for myself! I'm very happy with my belly button--I don't like the belly buttons that end up looking like a little slit after a tummy tuck.

Tomorrow is my weigh-in day, and I have a strong feeling I'm going to have gained weight this week. It NEVER FAILS that when I start an exercise program, I gain (or maintain) weight. Since I started running again this week, my muscles are going to be retaining water. I haven't binged or eaten in a way that I feel ashamed of, so if I have a gain, I'll be totally fine with it--knowing it's from the exercise.

Speaking of exercise, the four weeks post-op that I wasn't exercising definitely made me realize how much I need it! Not just physically, but mentally as well. I couldn't sleep for shit, my body felt antsy and anxious all the time, and I was extremely moody--for FOUR WEEKS. This past week, I've been sleeping again (even having a hard time waking up in the morning!), I've been in a much better mood (with the exception of the blog issues I had this week), and I have that oh-so-good fatigued feeling in my muscles. I always used to think exercise was overrated, but now I realize just how helpful it is mentally and physically.

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My food log for today:
Breakfast- jamocha/banana protein shake
Lunch- salmon fillet, sweet potato wheels
Snack- cinnamon almonds
Dinner- pork chop, creamed peas, infamous glazed carrots
Snack- spoonful of Cookie Butter, hot chocolate, graham crackers

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Tonight, my boys are spending the night at my parents' house... and I have the house to myself! I'm not sure what to do with myself. Normally I watch The Biggest Loser on Tuesday nights, but now that it's over, maybe I'll read a book. With hot chocolate, of course!

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Family Christmas party (and post-op sex!)

Yesterday was my family Christmas party. My grandma used to host it every year until she died in 1999, and my mom took over after that. My mom's side of the family is pretty big (she has 5 brothers and sisters) and I don't see much of the family through the year--so the Christmas party is when everyone gets together. Of course I forgot my camera at home, so I don't have any pictures to share.

Every year, it's ALWAYS about the food. It's a potluck, and the whole family loves to cook, so everyone brings their favorite dishes to share. The desserts are always a huge temptation for me. Yesterday, I just decided to eat a "normal" plate of food--the things I REALLY wanted--and then pick two desserts.

The party was at 12, so I didn't eat everything at one time, but I had a peanut butter cookie with the Hershey kiss in the middle, and a piece of cake (with buttercream frosting!!)  Then later, I ended up having a third dessert--a dump cake that my mom made. I was tempted to drink wine or beer, but decided to just stick with tea and decaf coffee since I was splurging on the food.

I'm horrible at taking compliments, which was very evident yesterday. So many people came up to me to talk about how well I did on Dr. Oz or to say how "skinny" I am or how "amazing" I look... and I don't really know what to say other than "Thank you". My lower body lift really did make a huge difference in how I look in my clothes. I've been very open about the surgery (obviously), so I didn't feel like I was being deceptive by accepting compliments.

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TMI:  I wasn't sure if I should write about this, but since some of you were curious... I finally had post-op sex for the first time yesterday.  Jerry has been SO patient ;)  and we were cuddling on the couch yesterday after the kids were in bed, and I just decided it was time. I'll spare you the details, but the surgical "lift" made everything feel AMAZING--it's hard to explain without going into too much detail, but let's just say that there was nothing in the way anymore. Jerry was still talking about how great it was all day today, lol.

My doctor didn't say that I had to wait a certain amount of time before having sex, but I just figured I'd at least wait until six weeks when I didn't have to wear the compression garment anymore. While reading the tummy tuck message boards, I was surprised how many people start doing it again the week of surgery.

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I'm STILL trying to find a web host in order to switch to WordPress. I was planning on using Bluehost, but today when I was reading the terms and conditions, I saw that Bluehost doesn't allow profanity. I'm not a very profane person, but if I let one slip now and then, I certainly don't want them to remove my blog. There are tons of web hosts to choose from, but I have no idea how to choose.

I was planning on spending today working on making the big switch, but Eli was complaining about an earache when he woke up, and I ended up keeping him home so that I could take him to the doctor. I took him in and they said that both of his ears are infected, one of them pretty badly. Poor kid. So we went to the store to get his antibiotic filled, and browsed around while we waited.

We were walking through the deli section, when a man came up to us and said to Eli, "Hey, I just heard on the radio that Santa's getting his sleigh and reindeer all ready to head out--are you excited for Christmas?"  Eli is shy around strangers, so he just looked down. I told the man that Eli was home sick from school and we were waiting for his medicine. He said, "I know what might make you feel better" and he pulled out his wallet and gave Eli a dollar bill. (Then told Eli to make sure that he doesn't take money from strangers unless his mom is with him--good advice!)

Eli was pretty excited, because I told him he could pick something out to spend the money on. He picked out some candy when we were at the checkout lane. I thought it was super nice of the man to do that.

Oh, and I walked past the bakery where they sell the monster cookies I'm obsessed with (like the one on my blog header)... and they don't have them anymore!! I was actually really relieved to see that. :)

Fear Factor is on tonight! Did anyone watch last week? I let Eli watch it on Jerry's computer, and watching his face was SO funny--it was the part where the contestants had to eat scorpions:

My kids love stuff like that, haha.

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My food log for today:
Breakfast- jamocha/banana protein shake
Lunch- two salmon fillets, sweet potato fries
Snack- pistachios, string cheese
Dinner- salisbury steak, creamed peas, spoonful of Cookie Butter
Snack- graham crackers with peanut butter and chocolate chips, wine

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December Winers Meeting

I had a bad day yesterday. I went for an easy 3-mile run, but it felt SO hard. My hips are sore. I feel so slow and sluggish still--I did 11 min. miles, and it still felt tough. I can't wait to get back to feeling how I did pre-surgery.

I was tempted to skip my wine club meeting last night, because I was feeling down, but I'm SO glad that I went--I had a blast with my friends!  Before Rachael picked me up, I had Eli take a picture of Jerry and me in front of the Christmas tree... He's only 5, so all things considered, he did rather well!

A little off-center, and missing the top of Jerry's head :)

Oh, and how cute is this suede coat?! I forgot about it. I actually bought it at a garage sale last summer--the woman said she paid $350 for it. Normally I don't spend more than $5 or so at a garage sale for a coat, but for THIS I made an exception. I paid $50.  It's SO SOFT and cozy!!

Heather hosted the meeting, and she chose a theme of Wine & Chocolate Pairings. YUM!! I was totally looking forward to tasting all the chocolate along with the wine. And really, what could reverse my bad mood better than chocolate and wine?!

She set up the pairings in stations:
#1: Barefoot Chardonnay with Lindt white chocolate
#2: Yellow Tail sparkling wine with Lindt milk chocolate
#3: Mirassou Pinot Noir with Green & Black's Espresso chocolate
#4: Blackstone Cabernet Sauvignon with Lindt dark chocolate
#5: Chocolato wine (wine made with milk and cocoa)
#6: cheap crappy wine with Hershey's milk chocolate (this was to basically see how bad the Hershey's and crappy wine tasted after trying all the good quality chocolate and wine!)

I'm normally a dry red wine drinker and a dark chocolate eater. However, my favorite pairing of the night was actually the first one--Chardonnay and white chocolate!  The two went SO well together--creamy and buttery tasting.  My favorite of the chocolate alone was the Espresso chocolate; and my favorite wine alone was probably the Cabernet.

I was hoping to post pictures, but nobody put them on Facebook yet, so maybe I'll have to edit this post later. Bummer.

A lot of people commented on how skinny I looked, which was fun (but kind of embarrassing, because is that a compliment? I think so...)  When I was losing weight, I was used to hearing that at all the meetings--"Katie, you're skinnier and skinnier every time I see you!" But now that I've been at the same weight for over a year, everyone was used to it. So to hear it again yesterday (post-lower body lift and I've lost about 14 pounds) was different--in a good way.

We had a white elephant gift exchange that we do every year for Winers. I was planning on bringing these ceramic bunnies that I took home from the exchange for the last two years (they've become a running joke among Winers now, because they're SO ugly and the perfect white elephant gift). But at the last minute, Jerry suggested something else that I thought would be hilarious...

This is something Jerry bought online for me for our anniversary a few years ago. It's hideous, right?! And so random. A wine bottle with rose petals and a "message in a bottle"--a cheesy poem that he copy and pasted. And a random key--to his heart? Who knows! All inside this wooden box with a plate engraved with "Punkin Pie" (his nickname for me). I wrapped it up, and threw the bunnies in the gift bag as well :)

I drew #10 to pick a gift, and I ended up stealing a gift from someone else--a hand-knitted scarf that Rachael brought. But it was quickly stolen from me :(  I wound up with some stationary and notepads that Renee brought, and I actually rather like them. They'll do perfectly for shopping lists!

I ate a few snacky things (see food log below), but I didn't gorge myself.

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My food log for yesterday:
Breakfast--Snickers protein shake
Lunch--homemade cream of mushroom soup; Kashi Go Lean Crunch with milk; orange
Dinner--salmon fillet, 3 parsley potatoes, more cream of mushroom soup, spoonful of Cookie Butter
Snacks--(All at Winers) chocolate (about 2 ounces?), wine (about 10 ounces), 1/2 piece of cheesecake, one cracker with cheese and salami, one cracker with cheese spread, one mini cream puff

I'm going to tweak the cream of mushroom soup recipe a little, and post it after I do. It's delicious!

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How to Lose Weight Without Giving Up Your Favorite Foods

I've written an updated, in-depth version of this post, which you can find here.


Someone wrote me an e-mail recently that inspired me to write this post. She mentioned she was having a hard time getting on track, and that she might as well wait until Jan.1st to start losing weight.

Whenever I hear people say something like this ("I'm going to start on Monday" or "I'm going to start Jan. 1st" etc), I cringe inside. I never offer my advice unless someone specifically asks me, because I hate it when people give me unwanted advice. But here is what I would say to that person...

I always preach about ONLY making changes that you're willing to do for the rest of your life. A lot of people hear that, and think it makes sense, but they don't really let it sink in.

The only reason that someone should dread making changes to his or her lifestyle is if the changes are TOO difficult and miserable to do.

There is no reason to dread starting your dietary changes RIGHT NOW. If you're going to make changes that you're willing to do forever, there is no reason whatsoever to wait until Jan.1st.

There is also a big difference between the phrases "can do" and "willing to do".  Anybody CAN make changes; but not everybody is WILLING TO make those changes. When deciding what changes you want to make to your lifestyle, you have to ask yourself (and really think about it before you give an answer), "What am I WILLING to do or change?"

I would suggest making a list like the example I made below. On the left column, write down things you are not willing to change forever; and on the right, write down some changes that are only a small sacrifice and you honestly don't mind doing them (something you're not going to dread!)

Remember, these are just examples. Only you know your personal battles and changes you should make--so try coming up with your own list and then start RIGHT NOW. It's not like you're heading to be slaughtered; they are just a few small changes that you're willing to do right now.

For a moment yesterday, I actually thought to myself, "I'm only 1.5 pounds from my goal weight right now. If I cut back on calories this week, I'll for sure reach goal at my next weigh in!"  But that is the exact mindset that I try to discourage from others. I'm not willing to eat less than I am right now FOREVER, so I decided that I'm not going to change a thing--I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing recently, and if it takes me 2 or 3 more weeks to reach goal, so be it. At least when I get there, I'll know that I'm already doing what I need to be doing in order to maintain.

Even if you're only willing to make one change right now, that's better than nothing. I didn't make all kinds of changes at once when I started losing weight. I wasn't even willing to exercise at first. But eventually, as you get used to your new habits, you just might be inspired to make more changes--because you want to, not because you have to.

I understand the "waiting until Jan.1st" mindset, I really do--I've said that phrase God-only-knows-how-many times in my life. But now that I've actually lost the weight and lived this lifestyle for 2 1/2 years, I know much more than I did before. And "starting Jan. 1st" is almost guaranteed to fail. There is a reason people make that New Year's Resolution EVERY YEAR--it's because the last year's resolution failed.

Remember, anybody CAN make changes; but what changes are you WILLING TO make forever? :)

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Buttercream frosting, oh my!

I've been so happy all day because of my weigh-in this morning! It's really dumb that a silly number on a scale can make or break my mood--but thankfully, it's been only good numbers lately, so I'll take it :)

Oh, and I probably should have mentioned that I HATE pedicures! That's why I've been procrastinating. I get grossed out by the thought of other people's feet in the little tub, and germs, and all that. Also, when they scrub your feet to exfoliate them? It's AWFUL--I hate even thinking about it. It's like fingernails on a blackboard to me! So I do my own toenails, but I haven't been able to after my surgery (it's hard to bend over that far for that long). I'll try and do it this week.

I just got home from my aunt's house. She invites us over every year in December to decorate Christmas cookies. She makes a ton of cut-out cookies and bakes them, and then the kids (including her grandkids) go to town decorating with frosting and tons of sprinkles.

Buttercream frosting is one of my top three biggest weaknesses (the other two being cookies and ice cream... and since this is hypothetical, we'll throw chocolate in there too. Oh, and marshmallow fluff).  My aunt also made chili for dinner, and homemade macaroni and cheese. I decided to have a little of each, and mixed them together--it was delicious! There was a lot of other food, but nothing that was calling out to me like the desserts. Brownies with frosting, cupcakes with frosting, and cookies with frosting... it was like buttercream heaven!

I decided not to eat any dessert while I was there, but I chose what I wanted most (a cupcake) and brought it home with me to eat for my treat tonight. I'm looking forward to it!

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I went for another three-mile run today. It was raining outside, so I decided to do the dreadmill. I put on my shorts and sports bra, and then thought about how much I used to love running in the rain. So I changed into my pants and a sweatshirt, put on a warm headband and some gloves, and did the run outside in the rain. It was fantastic!

I had to go REALLY slowly, though. My upper abs still have a weird pinching kind of pain, so I didn't want to do anything to mess with it. I just kept saying to myself, "Slow and easy, slow and easy..." because when I zone out, it's easy to go too fast without realizing it

Even going slow and easy, I felt pretty sore at first. My inner thighs and hips are still sore from the run I did on Sunday, but I knew that was just "normal" soreness, so I pushed through it. But I was very careful because of my abs. After running, I felt really good.  I noticed that my breathing wasn't as labored as it was during my first couple post-op runs (but that could just be because I was going slower).

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A few people asked me about running faster. While I'm certainly no expert, I did start out extremely slowly while running and then got a lot faster. There are lots of different ways to do it--the most popular being a speedwork run once a week. You can do that with interval training--run slowly, then run really fast, and repeat. I did this on the dreadmill because it was easy to keep a consistent pace.

You could also do a tempo run, which is a "comfortably hard" pace. Go faster than you normally run, but not so fast that you feel like you're going to puke. Just run hard enough that you wish you could go slower, but you could still push through and keep going.

My first sub-30 5k run (July 2010). I was so proud I took a picture :)

When I was a beginner, I didn't know about intervals or tempo runs... I just made goals and worked toward them each time I ran. For example, my first goal was to run 12 minute miles (for 3 miles total). Once I met that goal, I started pushing for 11:30 miles, then 11:00. A BIG goal was to get under a 10:00 mile, and then a sub-30:00 5k. I would run 3 miles, 3 times per week--trying to finish a little faster each time.

That worked really well for me, actually. I increased my speed significantly doing it that way. This past summer, I focused on doing "real" speedwork (intervals and tempo runs) to try and PR a 10k race. It didn't help at all--and I didn't get my PR :(  I think next time I'll just do my own thing again. It's okay to break the rules and figure out what works for you!

Also, the more you run, the faster you'll get. If you're only running one time a week, you're not going to improve very quickly. You have to run to get better at running, if that makes sense :)

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I can't remember who asked me if I would post my food logs again, but I'll try and do it once in a while. I'm not counting calories, so I'm not measuring any food out. But I'll list what I've been eating :)

Breakfast- Snickers protein shake
Lunch- Cold no-bake cookie oatmeal in a peanut butter bowl
Snack- cinnamon almonds, string cheese
Dinner- chili with cheese and onions; macaroni and cheese
Snack- cupcake

Gonna enjoy my cupcake now!

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Just a weigh-in

I will write a "real" post later, but I did my Wednesday Weigh-In this morning and I'm excited to change my stats, so I decided to post this now :)

Down 1.5 pounds since last week

(Obviously, I still need a pedicure!  Oh, and someone asked me about the tattoo--just a stupid ladybug I got when I was 18).

Body fat down 0.3% since last week

I'm VERY happy with my weigh-in today!! At 134.5, I'm only 1.5 pounds away from my GOAL WEIGHT. I've never in my life actually reached my goal weight; when I reached my lowest-ever weight of 128, my goal (at the time) was 126. So I was two pounds shy of goal when I gained some back. Since I reset my goal to 133, I'm now just 1.5 pounds away from actually REACHING GOAL.

It's possible that I could reach goal next Wednesday! That's so strange to me--but I'm excited. I want to think of some way to celebrate reaching goal. I know that I've been at this weight before, but like I said, it wasn't "goal" at the time, so I didn't feel like it was a success. Maybe that sounds dumb. But reaching goal weight is something that I've wanted to achieve since I was about 10 years old!

Can you think of any (inexpensive) ways for me to celebrate when I do reach goal?

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What the?!

So I was more than a little shocked when I logged into Blogger today and saw these stats:

Lately, I've been getting 3,000-4,000 pageviews per day, so I got kind of scared when I saw those huge numbers today! I've been getting a LOT of hits from Pinterest (which I don't belong to, but I kind of maybe want to join to see what the hype is?). Anyway, when I started my blog, I liked how it was kind of my own private little place on the internet where I could share all about my life and not worry about who saw it. 

With 10,000 pageviews today, I panicked for a minute, thinking about all those people that saw pictures of me in my PANTIES...

But the attention has been only positive (so far) and now I think this is actually kind of fun. I can't imagine why that many people find me interesting enough to view my blog, but hopefully I've inspired some people to make changes in their own lives.

So, I'd like to say welcome to my new readers! I don't have all the answers to weight loss (nor do I pretend to) and I still struggle constantly with my weight, but keeping this blog has been the best thing I've ever done for myself. It helps me stay accountable, and I've "met" sooo many fantastic people that inspire me and motivate me, and just make me feel good about myself--something I never used to feel before.

I hope that what I have written on my blog can help somehow--by seeing all things I've tried and failed at or succeeded at, maybe it will help in your own journey. I can't stress enough that ANYBODY can do what I did--it just takes a hell of a lot of determination and an excuse-free mindset! ;)

If you're just finding my blog, you might want to start with the FAQ's page. In short, I made up my mind that I was GOING TO lose 100+ pounds in a year (this was in August 2009); and I counted my calories diligently, weighing/measuring my food and being completely honest with myself. Over 16 months, I lost 125 pounds--with a few big hurdles along the way, like breaking my jaw, and binge eating. About halfway through my journey, I started to run for exercise--and I HATED IT at first, but I've grown to have a love/hate relationship with running, and I'm kind of hooked on it now.

I have an amazing family--my husband, who I've been with since high school; and our two boys, Noah (7), and Eli (5). We have four cats, all named from Friends characters: Chandler, Phoebe, Estelle, and Paolo.

Last month, I had the most amazing experience in that I was a guest on The Dr. Oz Show. It was so much fun!  And most recently, I had a lower body lift surgery to remove excess skin from my mid-section. I've been documenting all of that info, and will compile it into one blog post soon.

So, if you're interested in following along in my life, I'd love for you to introduce yourself in a comment or e-mail :)  Thanks for reading!

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Four weeks post-op

I cannot believe it's been 4 weeks since my surgery!! I remember thinking that six weeks seemed like SUCH a long time to recover, but I'm already 2/3 of the way through the worst of it. I only have to wear my compression garment for two more weeks.

I had Jerry take some weekly comparison pictures today. Again, it doesn't seem like a big change since last Monday, but I do notice a subtle difference in the pictures (for the better); my stomach seems a little flatter:

3 weeks after lower body lift

4 weeks after lower body lift

The best part is, I definitely noticed that the swelling is going down. I'm still swollen in my lower abdomen, but it's much better than it was a couple of weeks ago.
My incision is healing really well, too. It looks red right now, but my doctor told me it will look worse before it looks better--she said it would get red and then start getting paler, and after a couple of years, it should be very light.  The incision above my butt looks REALLY good--it's barely noticeable. I'm too shy to show you that one, sorry ;)

My belly button still looks pretty red inside, and the incision inside of it is kind of hard feeling. My surgeon told me to put Aquaphor on my incisions, and it would soften up. The red marks up by my ribs show how tight the compression garment is.

I'm still (slowly but surely) working on the post about all the surgery info. I've gotten a lot of good questions from you all, so I will try and answer all of them.

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Jerry and I ended up not doing much today. We went to Goodwill, but they didn't have much of anything. I bought the kids some snow pants, and myself a denim skirt and two tops--but nothing special. It was strange looking for clothes; I'm so used to having to find either long kind of bulky tops to hide my belly, or pants that go up high enough for me to tuck my belly into them. Now that I've had that skin removed, I can wear tight jeans AND tight tops, and I don't have any hangover of skin. I was kind of confused while looking for clothes, because I had to keep reminding myself that I don't have a bunch of excess skin on my belly.

The skirt that I bought is actually meant to sit very low, like right across my hips. I would never have been able to wear it before. Jerry saw it and his eyes got huge, and he said, "You HAVE to buy that!"  It's fun being able to wear a whole different style of clothes, and have no limitations. I guess I'm obligated to show a pic of the skirt now, too ;)

 Hmm, now that I see a picture of it, I'm not sure that I like it anymore. My mind is very backwards sometimes. I'll think I look absolutely terrible, but then when I see a picture of myself, I'm surprised that I actually look good. Or I'll think something looks really good, and then when I see a picture of it, I realize I was wrong.

When I was getting ready to go on stage with Dr. Oz, one of the producers put a necklace on me, that I thought was really ugly. I looked in the mirror and told her I didn't like it. She took my picture and showed it to me, and I realized I was wrong--so that's the necklace you saw me wearing on the show.

When I get ready to go out with friends or a party or something, I have to have Jerry take my picture to show me what I look like in different outfits, since I don't "see" it in the mirror. Same thing with my weight--I always think I look fat when I look in the mirror, but when I see a picture, I realize that I look normal. Does anyone else do this, or am I the only one with a fucked up perception of myself?! ;)

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I was actually pretty sore today from my run yesterday. I forgot what that feels like! My inner thighs are feeling the burn, as are my hips.  I love that feeling!

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