Merry Christmas

Greetings everyone. I am taking a few minutes to update this blog. I thought I would do it while I had time. I know things will get busier and busier as the season progresses! So while I have a few minutes, here I am.

I want to wish all my friends and family a very Merry and Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year. God has been good (as that is always the case. God is good all the time). It has been a very busy year for me.  I started going to college in March. I started going for an associates in Network Security. I have, however, switched to a Bachelors in Business Management. School is now progessing very well for me.

I had gastric sleeve surgery in August.  That is also progressing very well. As you all know this is the reason for this blog.  I will announce today that I have officially hit my weight loss of 70 pounds. I feel so much better. I feel lighter on my feet and one of the things I feel is I am not the necessarily the first person people notice because of my size.  I have more energy and even though I have always had a pretty high self esteem, my daughter tells me I have become even more self confident. I didn't know this was possible. So I am learning to bring myself down a notch or two.  LOL!!

One of the side effects of this surgery is hair loss.  I have noticed that I have been losing a lot of hair lately.  I am not to concerned, however, I am going to look into getting some vitamin suppliments for hair loss.  The funniest part of this whole hairloss thing is that my eyebrows are almost completely bald.  It's quite laughable. I am learning how to pencil them in.  I would like to get permanent eyebrows tattooed on at some point. They can make them look quite natural.

Once again I wish everyone a very Blessed Christmas and Merry Holiday season. Also a very Happy New Year.  I may not be on again before the first of the year.  I thank you all for your support in my health quest endeavors. It is very appreciated.

JESUS is the SEASON!

Well here it is the beginning of December.  This is my favorite time of year.  I love the sights, sounds and smell of Christmas.  I really love spending time with friends and family. Although presents are fun to receive, I would gladly go without presents if everyone of my family and friends that do not know Jesus Christ as their personal savior would come the Him and receive the benefits of eternal life.  There is a common phrase going around that says "Jesus is the reason for the season."  I think I would prefer to say "JESUS IS THE SEASON." 

Jesus, Wash me and I shall be whiter than Snow!

I frequently get teased because I am one of "those" people out there who would like to keep my Christmas decorations up all year round. Let me help you understand why.  I believe we should celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus dying on the cross all year round.  Jesus could not have made that sacrifice if were not born as a human.  SO...I like to celebrate Jesus all year round. Both His birth and Resurrection!

Well with the holiday season comes many parties and celebrations.  This will pose and interesting problem for me.  Holiday Eating.  What to do??? I do not want to skip the parties and fellowship. I have determined in myself to be strong and not make bad choices.  I will allow myself just an occasional indulgence but I will choose those indulgences wisely.  I have discovered I MUST stay away from sugar.  I don't like how it makes my stomach feel and I don't like spending long amounts of time in the bathroom.  I also am learning that I can have coffee and I can have creamer, however I need to learn to make the sugar free choices.  Fortunately the coffee shops that I like to go to offer coffees with a "Skinny" option.  I need to make a more concerted effort to get all my protein and water intake to the appropriate levels.. I did weigh my self this morning.  I am pleased to see that I have actually lost 2.6 pound this week.  So I am progressing just fine. That makes a total loss of 65.6 pounds.

This is a picture of three of the five Isum sisters.  Kaia Murnion, Signe Gee, Greta Cox.  Taken November 24, 2014 on Kaia's Birthday. It was taken on the front porch of her new home.  It was an awesome day. 

I am Truly Grateful

Hello, Its been a month since I posted to this blog. First let me say that I am truly thankful for all God has done for me. First and foremost that I am a child of the one true King. I am grateful for my salvation and God's gift of eternal life. I am thankful for all my family and friends that have been there for me during my weight loss lifestyle change journey.

It has been a very busy month. We have Halloween and Thanksgiving. As far as WLS (weight loss surgery) goes I have been in a plateau for 3-4 weeks. I was sitting at 314. Just sitting. Not gaining, not loosing.  I determined to not cheat and to just keep going forward and pressing on.  And I am glad I did. This morning I weighed myself and I believe I have broken my plateau.  I am down to 311. Determination and perseverance pays off. I am still in excellent health and am not having any negative side-affect from the sleeve surgery.

One further development in the past month has to do with Becky.  She has a boyfriend.  Becky and I went to his family's house for Thanksgiving Dinner last night.  Becky has expanded her limited menu.  She tried 6 different foods last night and liked some of them and tolerated all of them.  She is so funny. We haven't been able to get her to try new foods for quite sometime.  It took a boyfriend to get her to expand her tastes.

No I haven't disappeared of the face of the earth!

Happy Pictures of the day!

Greetings,  I have not disappeared off the face of the earth.  It has been over two weeks since i have posted anything.  

I have had quite an adventuresome two weeks.  I started back to school about 4 weeks ago so I have had lots and lots of homework.  I have decided that I needed to change my major. I had originally chosen Network Security.  Well...I have been struggling to wrap my mind around some of the basic principles and decided instead of stressing myself and my family out it would be better to change. So with prayer and speaking with my husband I decided to change to Business Management. That should be effective the next term.

I have been very pleased with my progress in weight loss.  I have had my 2 month post surgical appointment.  I've met with nutritionist, exercise specialist, and nurse. On the date of my appointment I had lost a total of 50 pounds. They said that was amazing.  I have also progressed to eating "normal" food.  I still must stay away from bread, rice, and pasta. But that is fine with me.  Although, I do miss my 12 grain bread.  I still need to eat very small meals. Total of no more than 4 oz of food. I need to eat protein first and then the fruits and vegetables.  Now I can experiment with different recipes. And I will be able to go back to cooking dinner for the family and only eat my correct portion. Hopefully I can teach the rest of the family what correct portions are. I have also been cleared to go back to exercising. I have been instructed to take it slow at first but build up to full exercise. So that will be my next project to find a gym that I am comfortable with.  I will probably end up at Planet Fitness.  Jim already has a membership there. I weighed myself this morning and have lost 55 pounds.

Two weeks ago I ended up in the emergency room. It seems I pulled a muscle in my right shoulder/back. The pain moved across my back to the left shoulder/lower back. It got too painful to bare. The Doctor gave me percocet and flexeril. Well it worked well to relieve the pain, however, the percocet made me terribly constipated. I have tried several methods to relieve the problem but continued to suffer through about 5 days.  Last night my husband had me go out and get a different remedy.  I purchased a generic version of Correctol. It is suppose to be gentle overnight relief. 6-12 hours.  Well without getting gross, I took the medicine at 10:30 pm and at midnight I was back in the bathroom.  That was somehow quite a bit less than 6-12 hours. Although it wasn't as painful as it could be, I don't consider it gentle. I do, however, feel so much better this morning.

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll. What ever my lot thou hast taught me to say, "It is well, it is well with my soul."

It truly is well with my soul.  God is good. 

It has been a week since I have updated this blog.  I have been rather a busy bee. I have been kept busy with my homework in both my classes.  I am taking Programming Logic and Design, and Communications (public speaking). It is proving to be quite a challenge. I do however, enjoy it.

My weight loss journey is right on track.  I have lost a total of 45.6 pounds in the 9 weeks. I am doing pretty well with keeping up with my protein and water intake.  It is not perfect. I do well to keep up with my vitamins. I need to get out and walk more. That would help me a great deal.


This is my grandson Andrew.  He stopped what he was doing and took a dance break.  I think it would be wise if we all from time to time stopped and danced like nobody's watching. 

Verse of the Day:

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22 (ESV)

All Is Well

Nothing new or drastic to report on my weight loss journey.  I have lost a total of 43.4 pounds since Augutst 6. I feel great.  I am sorry this is such a boring blog. I am generally a very positive person and not one to complain if I have a touch of discomfort or pain.  I have been doing very well. I do have one little problem.  I have a tendency to forget to drink enough water.  So I will work on improving that.

I did have my first cup of  Starbucks coffee yesterday. I did follow my doctors instruction and had decaf and no fat creamer.  It was so good.

I also found these cheese sticks at the grocery store that taste pretty good.  I can only handle one at a time though. My daughter loves them.

I've started back to school. The classes I am taking this term are.  Communications (public speaking) and Logic and Design. These are both going to be challanging.

Update

The pictures above were taken yesterday.  I can see so much difference in my face. It truly amazes me.   I have a neck and a defined chin.  The side of my face doesn't touch the side of my glasses. My glasses look so much bigger on my face. This is awesome. The comarison picture on the left was taken in July and the one on the right was yesterday. I also put on a ring this morning that I haven't been able to wear in years. It feels so good.

I am 0.9 pounds away from my 40 pound loss goal. I am feeling great.  GOD IS GOOD!!

I have been working on a new baby afghan for a friend of mine. I do enjoy working with yarn and other fibers. It gives me a great sense of accomplishment and it brings me great joy when I see others enjoying what I made.

I start back to ECPI University next Monday.  I am excited to be getting back to school. 

Here is my Bible verse of the day: