One Year Surgiversary

I've been thinking a lot about this post, because it blows my mind that it's been a year -- partly because it feels like it's still so recent, and I'm still working and struggling and changing, and partly because a voice in my head says "Only a year??"

I'll start with photos!

 March 2010:



April 2010:



July 2010:



In October 2010:



December 2010 (at my wedding):



Today (March 29 2011):
Front-

Side -

Back -


And two sucking in (hehe)






I am pretty good about taking my vitamins -- I've found my patterns, my niches, and I like the GummiVites multivitamins from Target.  I take two in the morning and the afternoon, with my Caltrate Maximum.  I take 150mg Poly-Iron at night, before I go to bed.

I still don't eat enough protein, so I'm still taking a protein supplement that gives me 42g of protein in a little shot -- the Protein Bullet, which I mix with tea to dilute the flavor, which is pretty strong.  I was never able to stomach powdered protein supplements, like many of you, and these little bullets, recommended to me by someone here were quite the lifesaver.

I can drink a little bit, but I get drunk quite easily. I'm aware of what the rules are, so I know when I'm breaking them and don't need to be told. I do tend to stick pretty rigorously to the "no drinking 1.5 hours after eating" rule, and I don't usually feel like I consume that much during the day. I probably hover around 1000-1300 calories in a day right now.  

I do a lot more exercise than I did previously, but not as much as I want to do. I do research in the jungle and so I walk a lot when I'm there, but swimming remains my favorite type of aerobic activity.  I'm joining a friend to do open water swims when I get back to the USA.

I do have a bunch of lose skin, most notably around my thighs and abdomen, but I've gotten sort of funny excess-skin wrinkles like an old lady on my neck.  I think if I contemplate any plastic surgery, though, it'll be brachioplasty because the excess skin on my arms is a bit insane! My arms were always one of the fattest parts of me, though.

The surgery has absolutely made weight loss, as a concept, easier for me, but it hasn't made food any easier for me. I still struggle regularly with how much I SHOULD be eating and what kinds of food.  I tend to eat small quantities of a vast variety of things, but harbor serious trepidation about certain new foods.  I still throw up sometimes, but not as often as I used to (I had serious problems with the size of my anastoma right after surgery).

Regardless, I do feel like a much smaller person.  I went from wearing a 22 on bottom to wearing a 12.  I feel sexy, and I can even buy clothes from trendy designers like Free People.  I don't need to go to specialty stores to buy pants, and the last corset I bought for a fetish event was a medium and my waist was SO SMALL.  I wear things I would never have worn previously, and my confidence is much better, even if I still feel like a Big Person™.

My bubbies are so small now! I had to buy all new bras, and they're sort of sad and flat.  That's been something weird to get used to.  I was always buxom when I was heavier.

I have barely told anyone I know about the surgery. It's really hard to hide how little I am eating at public events, and I have created this whole system to make it less noticeable.  I got some flack at a dinner party this past Sunday in Kinshasa where I'm living right now because I wasn't continually eating the vast quantity of food that everyone else was.  This kind of attention I dread, and go out of my way to avoid it!

I remain really happy with my choice to have the surgery. I gave my first scientific presentation in Kyoto this past September and I really felt good about the way I carried myself, and my confidence helped me network with colleagues and is helping my future research a lot.

100+ pounds down, only 30 pounds to go!