A New Year

I have all my Christmas decorations taken down and put away in the shed. I can't believe how empty things look. I still need to vacuum all the little pieces of styrofoam that fell out when I was packing things away. I will leave things like they are for a few more days and then put up my Valentine things. The top of my piano looks so bare, but thats ok. I am sure when I start getting out all the valentine items it will be full again. Now that I have a few more surfaces to decorate in my living room I need to either make or buy more things. Hmmm such a hard things to do LOL. I have about 4 projects going on at the moment for family and my house. So I will be kept busy during these winter months. I went to Hobby Lobby today and bought more yarn because it was on sale and some material to do some embroidery on. I ordered some embroidery patterns and they should be here in next couple days so that also will keep my busy.
I find that if I am busy I don't tend to snack. I always have something to drink next to me, either water or ice tea but thats ok. Even though I have had weight loss surgery you still have to watch what you eat. There are still a lot of things I can't eat because they make me sick, but thats a good thing because I probably shouldn't be eating that stuff anyway. I haven't lost anymore weight in a while now and the doctor said it is because my sleeping is off because of working the midnight shift. Its a scientific fact that our bodies are programed to sleep at night and that our metabolism is programed to work harder in the mornings. Which for me that is the time I am sleeping and I don't eat till later in the day and evening. Which is when your body slows down, which doesn't help with losing weight. Ah such a vicious circle. Oh well I am happy so far with what I have lost. Pounds and inches. 170# and 70 inches. I need to take an updated picture of myself to add to my blog but I didn't get one yet. I will do so in the next couple days. I bought myself a dress at Goodwill last sat on half off days. I like the dress, my granddaughter said it was ugly. But what does she know. I like it and I got a lot of compliments on it at church. I like how it fits. I was really surprised when I looked at the size tag. When I started out this journey of losing weight I was wearing a size 5x or 52. This dress I bought was a size 20. Which is like an XL. I almost cried. Yes the clothes I have being buying have been smaller but I haven't bought anything in a long time so I was so surprised. No wonder the clothes I have don't stay up much anymore. I need to really work hard at losing another 40lbs and then I can go and have my hernia repaired and have my excess skin on my stomach removed. I would like to have all this done before my son gets married, and that should be either this fall or next fall. I would like to look nice for him and the pictures. Ah so close yet so far. Either way I am happy and thats a GREAT THING.
I will also try and post some pics of some other decorating and crafts I have done in the near future. And yes I will also post a recent pic.

Update on Doctor visit

I went to my doctor appt yesterday and it went well. I didn't lose much weight but lost some inches. I lost 4 more lbs and another 4 inches. I know my body is shifting in how the weight is distributed because I can tell how my clothes are fitting. I gained inches in some areas and lost in others. I am not disappointed and I am sorry if it sounds like that. I spoke to the doctor about felling like I am at a standstill and he said that I will slow down now and by me working these midnights my body rhythms are off kilter. He was saying that there are studies done that show people that work midnights and shift work are low on the totem pole so to speak in losing weight. And he said some people stop all together and possibly start gaining weight, its a scientific fact. He went into detail on how the body works in its hormones, etc and it made sense because a lot of the things he said are exactly how I feel. He ask if there was any way I could get off these midnight and I just chuckled. I explained how seniority doesn't count for anything where I work. He was surprised, but he told me to do the best I could. Which I am. No matter what happens with my weight, whether I lose a few lbs here and there I am happy with the amount I have lost so far. I am doing things now that I never dreamed I would be able to do. I have energy, well most of the time I do if I can get some sleep.

I went to my appt with my friend Joe from work, who had the lap band surgery. He lost some but not much, and his problem is he still has a lot of the bad habits he had from before and he knows this. He still eats pretty much what he wants but just not as much as he used to. I think its been a year since he had his surgery and has lost right around 60+. He looks good and I am proud of him. We went shopping after our appt and had a blast. We left LaPorte around 2:30p and I pulled into my driveway around 10p. We also go out to eat everytime we go to appt. Boy doesn't that make good sense, go to weight loss doctor and then go out to eat. LOL But neither one of us eats much, and always bring home leftovers. Lots of leftovers. Either way its nice to spend time with him.

I spoke to the doctor also about my hernia and the trouble I have been having lately with it. He checked it out and said I am doing ok and it has not shifted or gotten any bigger, so just keep an eye on it. Having a hernia is really a good thing after weight loss surgery. I know sounds funny but...by having the hernia that means I will be able to have the loose skin removed from my stomach and the hernia repaired and my insurance will take care of it because it will be medically necessary. It won't do any good if I just have the hernia repaired because the loose skin will just pull down on the hernia site and cause me to get another one. SO...this is a good thing. He wants me lose at least 40 more lbs before he does surgery. This will be better because I will be closer to my goal weight and I won't run the risk of having to have a second surgery to remove more skin. I am happy about this. Not so much about going into surgery again but having my skin removed. Its a long process but one I can deal with. But no matter what happens I am happy for the 170+ that I have lost. I really never thought I could feel this good. Now if I could just figure out how to get off these midnight shifts????????? Oh well time will tell.