I'm Still Here...

I haven't posted in awhile so I figured I'd post to share my progress.

Since my last post I have stopped drinking soda altogether! I have been soda free since January! I'm proud I stuck to one of my New Years Resolutions. My weight is still up & down & I still slip up & eat crap. Well to be honest lately I've been eating a lot of crap. After my last visit with my surgeon I got discouraged & just sorta slipped into a depression. My dietitian was telling me I only had about 20lbs to lose before I could get approved for surgery but then once I saw the surgeon he said it was still 40lbs. Not to sound like a child but to me that's not fair. I originally started with my weight loss journey back in 2012 at a different hospital with a different surgeon but they were affiliated with my current doctor & hospital so it wasn't an issue when I switched over. My original surgeon retired so I was given my current one. I was seeing him at the first hospital but he was only there 1 day a week & it was like waiting for Jesus himself trying to get an appointment so I decided to make an appointment with him at my current hospital which is also closer to my house so it was a win/win. Now all of my records & testing transferred over with no issue except my weight loss. This new surgeon wanted my progress to start all over. It's no my fault my old surgeon retired. I mean I understand that it was his time but the new surgeon should put into account that I was making progress & maybe cut his 40lbs in half so it's back to my original number. I see people WAY bigger than me with TONS of health issues getting surgery yet I can't. I don't have diabetes, high blood pressure, or anything like that. Sorry for saying it again but it's just not fair! I just want to get my surgery so I can move on with the rest of my life & BE HEALTHY!

Sorry for rambling on but I just needed to vent. Honestly I don't even know who I'm apologizing to because I don't know who's even gonna read this. Until next time...

Jill

An introduction to me!

My name is Jill & I am 30 years old from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I've been struggling with my weight my entire life! I've always been the "Bigger Girl" compared to my friends. Up until about 6 years I've always been able to maintain a steady weight of 200 to about 225 pounds. I mean it isn't thin but my weight didn't affect my health to where I couldn't hold down a job or do normal everyday things. In August of 2007 I was diagnosed with severe Sciatica. At first when I was told that the pain could sometimes be debilitating & I should take things easy I kind of brushed it off like, "Okay doc, whatever you say". I had just moved to Florida with my fiance & didn't work so my job was to keep the apartment clean & take care of the dogs. Well I probably should have listened to the doctor because one day after deciding to attempt to rearrange the furniture alone I dunno what I did but I could not move! I immediately stopped what I was doing & drug myself to the couch to try to relax thinking the pain would go away. Boy was I wrong! After a few hours I found the only way for me to be comfortable was to lay on my right side & that was still somewhat painful. The next day I went back to the doctors where he put me on Percocet for the pain & Flexaril to relax my muscles. While it took the pain away I still wasn't able to do my daily routine of cleaning & walking the dogs & cooking & pretty much doing anything. Well I decided to make myself a medication cocktail that consisted of 2 10mg Percocet's, 3 Tylenol Arthritis, 2 Motrin 800mg, & 2 Flexarl''s just to be able to get the housework done, walk the dogs, & have dinner on the table. After awhile I couldn't take having to consume all that medication for about 2 maybe 3 hours without pain, so I stopped taking everything. I tried doing stuff other than housework but that pain just became too much so I found myself staying in more often & not being as active as I once was. And that's when the weight started to come on. My fiance started to help out & do a lot more things around the house for me since he was laid off so that left me with more time to be less active. After awhile I found myself doing the bare minimum. Jump to 6 years later & here I am, extremely overweight & activity is pretty much non existent. I've tried diets & exercise but nothing ever works. I feel like no matter how many calories I counted or how many miles I walked there was no progress. Other than the weight my only other health issues are my knee which I messed up about 5 years when I slipped outside in the rain & my asthma, which is pretty much under control. I am now in the beginning stages of getting weight loss surgery. A lot of people may say that weight loss surgery is the easy way out & for some people it is but I feel as though in my case it isn't. If you know me on a personal level than you know how long & how much I tried to lose this weight & it's either this or death & I have way too much more to live for!

So I'm pretty much starting this blog for some support & input from other people who have had weight loss surgery & also to update my family & friends on my progress. I'll post some before pics, maybe if I get enough balls I'll even post my weight & measurements, do a weekly update on my progress. I also plan on posting my daily food intake, that's pretty much for me. Now I'm not really into fruits of veggies so for now I'm starting the Slim Fast Diet: 2 shakes to replace 2 meals, 3 100 calorie snacks in between each meal, & 1 sensible dinner. I'll calculate my calories daily & also post them on here. My #1 issue is soda so I'm gonna slowly ween myself off of it. I tried to do it cold turkey but I got nasty headaches & was really mean. So right now I drink about 2 maybe 3 20oz sodas a day. I gonna try to cut it down to 2 to 3 cans a day & see what happens. I also start consuming the daily recommended amount of water & I'll start trying to walk up & down the steps in my house at least twice. Now to some of you this may seem like nothing but when your carrying around all this extra weight it's a workout! Well this is all I have to write for now so until the next post, stay happy & healthy!