4 Years Post Gastric Bypass, 9 Years of Marriage and a Job

Whenever we go anywhere…besides around here…I imagine living there. But it’s funny..the one and only time I moved away I always came home. It was the demise of my first marriage I think.

There’s a job opening that Skip wants to try for. We had tabled the thoughts of moving away a few years ago when it became obvious that for whatever reason…God wanted us to stay put. But here comes an opportunity that is the perfect stepping stone for Skips career…and I’ve given my blessing for him to go for it. The way I see it…since I have no interest in making money..I can’t really tell him not to try and make more. He busts his ass and I work 3.5 days a week pretending it’s work. And this place is only 3 hours away so it’s not like I couldn’t get home pretty quick if I had to. We haven’t told anyone and don’t plan to. Not even the kids..although it appears that they are gypsies like their mama…always game for a new gig.


Running-


Is going very well. I’ve managed to push my mileage up into the 20’s for the last couple weeks and am tolerating it well. Dom is getting ready to finish basketball and our training starts the first week of March. I’m excited..I just know he’s going to astonish himself with what he can do!


Shoes-

Even though this winter has been far from cold…an ideal winter for running I’d say..there has been days where my New Balance Minimus just don’t offer enough warmth. So after not much research…I purchased the Brooks PureFlow. They are ugly, look like I stuck my foot in Grimace and there they were….but I completely love them! They offer tons more cushion than the Minimus but in turn…more warmth. Brooks nailed it with this one and I’ve found my go to shoe.


4 Years Post-Gastric Bypass

I finally had my follow-up with my surgeon. Four years for me was actually this past October but well..life just kind of gets in the way of things doesn’t it? So it ended up being more like 4.5 years. I have maintained a 90 pound loss out of 100 pounds. But the real kicker? My body fat was down almost 9 percent from what it was last year! How bout that? He couldn’t believe it. I know I owe that to Jillian…because nothing but 30 thousand dollars worth of surgery has changed my body like she has. I continue to do her workouts 4 days a week in the mornings. By doing her workouts first I am teaching myself to run on very tired legs…which in turn is making my running easier. I’m not any faster…but I’m hoping that will come in time.

9 Years of Marriage

February 11th marked me tying myself to Skip for the 9 years. We had a wonderful anniversary at a lumbar yard, a grocery store, and IHOP. The day we got married was kind of a hodgepodge. I had to have my car serviced down in Illinois where I bought it and the wait to get married down there is only a day. So although we planned to get married in Vegas that April, I was like ‘dude…do you want to just get married on Tuesday?’ He did…and we did.


That night…after telling my parents and the kids…we took the then 6 and 5 year old boys to IHOP for dinner. Romantic I know. So that’s where we went on our anniversary. We walked in and they had the section where we sat closed down for the night. I told the kid that it was our 9 year anniversary…and that 9 years previous we had come in here and sat in that booth over there and ate dinner. And he opened the section…cute. We’ve gone back there probably 5 years out of the 9..the Nutella crepes were awesome people…just awesome.


So here’s what I know today.


After 9 years of marriage I realize that it doesn’t have to be a ton of work. That if you like someone as much as you love them…marriage is pretty easy. I like Skip. I respect him. He is my best friend and he cracks me the hell up more often than not. And if I want to be with someone forever..it better be him because otherwise it just won’t work.


After 4.5 years of having my guts re-routed it is still a struggle. I will always be way too interested in food and will never be able to eat with abandon. But I don’t want to. Surgery is not a quick fix or a cure all. It’s a tool…but there still has to be someone attached to that tool that is willing to use it properly. I still sometimes eat the wrong things and end up puking my guts out. I still can gain weight…pretty damn easily. But if you commit to changing your life…swinging that hammer…and don’t expect something to DO it for you….it WILL work.


Kind of like life…don’t you think?

Quiet

I love to be the first one up in the house in the morning…the peace is immeasurable. I let Tate stay up late on the weekends to ensure that I have this time…is that awful of me? Don’t care…truly I don’t.

So several big things went down this week. We finally got snow..as in like 8 inches of it. Skip was in D.C. this week and of course…that’s when it happens. We’ve had some amazing weather in Wisconsin late into the winter so I imagine we’re going to pay for it now. But we got it cleared out and it was business as usual. I told Skip when he came back that I want to move…HA! I always love the first snow of the year…if I have nowhere to go. After that it’s all downhill till spring. Why do we live here? Why does ANYONE live here?


The second thing was that Dominic had his longest run to date. Tuesday we were running in tee shirts and shorts..*see how messed up our weather is? Two days later we’re buried in snow*. Anyways…we planned on 5 but looped a little farther than I thought and ended up with 6.2. He felt solid and actually wanted to go farther. But I’m trying to build a runner for life here..not one plagued with injuries who hates running as often as not. And although he won’t admit it yet…he’s starting to crave the run…isn’t that incredible?


I am about to finish my second week of Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 series. This time I’ve included diet modification and have been logging my food on Sparkspeople. The workouts are just sick…much harder than the Shred but I’m feeling awesome. My official weigh day is Monday but as of last Monday I still have not lost any weight. I’m around 1500 calories a day which I feel is rock bottom for as much as I workout…and still nothing. I am pretty frustrated with this. I am fairly happy with my weight…but it makes me mad when I feel not in control of my body. I have to weigh in with my surgeon at the end of the month and I would have liked to have been down a bit…doesn’t look like that’s going to happen…go me.


Speaking of weighing in with my surgeon…my 4th and final post-gastric bypass surgery followup is happening on the 26th of this month. I had my lab work done and everything was good. I had cut my thyroid medication in half about 6 months ago and was curious about my TSH which came back fine. So after this final appoint I am done with him…the man that changed my life for a mere 30 grand. I am in the wrong business.


Off to the library…hope everyone had a wonderful week!