tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58083100430892212492024-03-05T01:48:26.129-08:00I Don't Do SaladLosing weight while avoiding veggies like the plague.Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-85844728151148120892016-08-22T13:13:00.000-07:002016-08-22T13:13:00.201-07:00It's basically almost the end of 2016 if you round up<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Damnnn summer is almost over, at least in the Memorial
Day to Labor Day summer sense, I don’t do that solstice/equinox/whatever
official calculation. As always I’m
happy about that because August is one of my least favorite months and it’s
that time of summer that I always bitch and moan about being tired of the
humidity and start crying for Pumpkin Spice Lattes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In honor of it being almost 2/3 of the way through the
year, I stumbled upon my not-New Years Resolutions about things I wanted to do
this year, and figured it would be interesting to see how many of them I’ve
done. It also made me want to do that
every year and see what kind of interesting aspirations I had in December and
how much my year actually goes as planned.
So anyway, here’s what I had come up with, the 1-to-10 likelihood of it
happening. I’ll add the status of each
next to it in obnoxious caps.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- trip to San Francisco in February (9.. flight is
booked) – DONEZOS <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- some kind of international trip, ideally not North
America (3.5) – DID NOT HAPPEN. TENTATIVELY PLANNING FOR THAILAND IN MAY 2017
THO<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- roadtrip to Mississippi with friends (6.5) – PLAN WAS
FOR THIS FALL, BUT PROBS NOT HAPPENING<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- mini thigh lift surgery (7) – YESSIR <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- volunteer at DNC in Philly (8.5) – DID THAT<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- trip to Oklahoma City and Dallas to visit fam and
friends (5) – NOPE <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- trips to DC and NYC to visit friends (9.5) – YEP <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- date someone over the age of 27 (4) – DAMNIT NO,
ALTHOUGH MY SLAMPIECE/BOYFRIEND IS TURNING 27 IN 9 DAYS DOES THAT COUNT?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- finish watching Sons of Anarchy (6) – YES I DID THIS
ONE TOO! I’M KILLIN 2016 YO</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So basically I did the things that were highly probably,
did not do the things that were not that probable, and kind of split the middle
ones. That’s not a terrible 2/3 of a
year. The Nos on that list are very
likely to stay that way so I might as well start coming up with 2017’s
thingz2do. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My stumble through my blog also reminded me that this week
is the 1 year anniversary of that godforsaken juice cleanse I did. Good thing I did it cuz I’m so much skinnier
and healthier and detoxed and better at life now, right? LOLOL.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Life is pretty much zipping along very well and very
happily. The thigh lift seems so far
behind me now. Once I was able to resume
working out life went completely back to normal. The only time it really crosses my mind now
is when I’m applying Bio-Oil on the scars, and I still wear bike shorts under
clothes sometimes, usually just with skirts/dresses where there is no
compression whatsoever on my legs. But
even then it’s these weak-ass compression shorts that aren’t anything like
those crotchless monsters in terms of compression level or discomfort so I’m
not even really sure why I bother. I
think I like my left thigh slightly more than my right. It’s fun having a favorite thigh. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Also, it occurred to me that I don’t even know that I consider
myself as weight loss-minded at this point.
I know I’ve remarked on this several times before; how I kind of want to
lose more weight but don’t take any steps to actually work that hard at it. But now I don’t even really vaguely daydream
about being thinner. I can’t think of
the last time I thought about hoping to be x pounds thinner in y months. I hardly ever weigh myself, and not with the
hope of checking the scale in 2 months and magically seeing a loss. I just don’t really care. I mean again, to be clear, if there was a
weight loss fairy roaming around granting weight loss wishes, would I be like
yeah please, take 15 pounds off my body, pref around the hips and OK fine,
smooth out my lower back? Of fucking
course I would. But I’m not even really
sure that I could/would be able to maintain a lower weight at this point. My MFP calorie target is set for 1 lb/week
loss, but I’ve got a good thing going of staying within my calories 4-5ish days
a week and going over my calories by 200-800 (or maybe more) the other 2-3 days
a week and that keeps me maintaining at my current weight and more importantly,
works with my life. So I think I’m in a
good spot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That’s it for now.. I was going to close with a selfie or something equally stupid but I'm too lazy to even do that much. Next time.</span></div>
Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-2689070498570098252016-07-19T08:52:00.000-07:002016-07-19T08:52:12.796-07:00Stuff and Things<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When the hell did it become mid-July already? Shit is crazy. Usually by mid-July I'm over summer and the heat and just want it to be fall, but this year it's kind of going too quickly and I'd like to hold onto summer a little more. But not the heat, that shit can go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My birthday is in 9 days and despite turning 33 which seems solidly mid-30s, I'm excited about it. Mostly because I like attention and celebrations in my honor, and cake and beer and gifts, and all of the other good things that come along with birthdays. My memory and this blog indicate that after my birthday and after August begins, I tend to go into some kind of mental/actual detox mode with trying to go out less, drink less, eat less, etc. However, I absolutely promise that I will not be doing any juice cleanses or other such absurdities this year. At this point, it's probably better for my bank account than anything else that I maybe just like, chill out and stay home now and then.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Weirdly, and happily, I hardly ever seem to weigh myself anymore. I just don't really think about it. I used to try to stick to a once a week weigh-in day, usually Wednesdays, then eventually decided to make it an every other week thing, and now it just doesn't even cross my mind. I've probably weighed myself less than once a month for the past several months. I'm not saying I deserve a medal but I remember when that was like, a BFD for me and I'd make it into a drawn-out dramatic challenge and then blog about it like I was accomplishing some noble feat. It makes me feel like a normal healthy-ish person to just like, live and not constantly spend so much time and energy thinking about my weight. I still track pretty much every day on MFP, but it's less about trying to be perfect and stick to my calorie target every day and more out of habit and trying to get a decent amount of protein and fiber, cuz apparently that stuff is good for you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My thighs are lookin pretty fresh to death. I might take some more pics at some point but they're pretty much the same as before, and I'm really happy with them. Nothing drastic but they're smoother and straighter and I like it. Also my stomach is flatter, especially on the right side, and I'm never gonna complain about that! I'm back to my normal workout routine. I started back with running a couple weeks ago then added kickboxing and other classes last week, and everything feels good. The transition back was much quicker and easier this time around, thank god. I'm too lazy and unmotivated to have to deal with adversity in that (or any) regard.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was a really boring and uneventful life update but figured I should check in. Now that I'm done with the plastic surgery/skin removal chapter of my life, it's possible I will never ever post again. But hopefully that's not the case! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-63007674865109424192016-06-22T13:55:00.004-07:002016-06-22T13:55:51.666-07:0013 days post-op, 3rd day back at the jobski<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since I had surgery but it feels like it's been about a month, which isn't to say it has been bad. I think it's more that since the drains came out last Friday (day 8) life has felt pretty back to normal. Well, aside from wearing bike shorts 22.5 hours a day including while I'm peeing, and the fact that my inner thighs look like an SVU episode. I didn't realize how bad the bruising still was until wearing a skirt to work yesterday and my boss gasped in horror. Pants it is, this week. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For the most part though, I feel great. Too great, probably, because it's harder to remember to take it easy when you feel so back to normal. On Saturday I was a mix of feeling good and feeling restless from being stuck in my parents' house in the burbs for 9 days so I went back to Philly and spent 11 hours out and about beer-gardening and eating delicious junk and walking more than I should have. This after not having left the house other than to go to the doctor and one lunch out with my parents. Nevertheless, I felt good on Saturday and managed to still feel good on Sunday other than being a little sleep and mildly hungover. That said, I don't want to press my luck so I've been taking it easy all week since then. Except the whole having to be at work thing, but even that hasn't been bad. I know I'm not out of the woods yet but am at least very happy to be doing so well so far.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I took some pics yesterday morning although apparently I suck at taking pics based on the angles and lighting and picture quality and everything else relevant so I'll try to do some new ones soon. I think they show the shape well enough though, and the incision doesn't go that far down so you can basically see all the important shit. I'm also posting another before pic that I took the morning of surgery to highlight what was really the biggest or only thing motivating this surgery. As you can see, I had some major lumps of squishy loose skin/flesh/whatever in my upper inner thighs. I'm not saying it was worst thing that could happen to a person, but I felt pretty confident that shit wasn't going away on its own, even if I did ever manage to squeeze off a few more pounds. I didn't get this surgery hoping for a thigh gap or supermodel gams. Just no hanging pockets of loose thigh flesh, ya dig? </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMBvQG86EfU5DnnA1vjDWW-DXXULy2f3FiAsB0J_W5D2NY8d2k3YZSI3RyAZ485Q2HBaQEje8p5RK76ESwsR9O3y8b4V1xMYMwCnYfJ2aynoYOjlF4K8w18lwcTyPfTbqTBLMymLXjePn/s1600/IMG_6896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMBvQG86EfU5DnnA1vjDWW-DXXULy2f3FiAsB0J_W5D2NY8d2k3YZSI3RyAZ485Q2HBaQEje8p5RK76ESwsR9O3y8b4V1xMYMwCnYfJ2aynoYOjlF4K8w18lwcTyPfTbqTBLMymLXjePn/s320/IMG_6896.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: start;">Before pic - i.e. squishy thigh jawns</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOuNS-DDFU_XNE9HfB2_IKmUmfqlReZm6VYN343lSzDOioGRc3fKuEo-DKCER8eNYYuRls2KvTAqpaNB2g3K_3RMZPWFaeveWPTLExm2PsTe1DZmVIWpDjm4jDkadpYTB-zWZeZIL36ZlS/s1600/IMG_6957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOuNS-DDFU_XNE9HfB2_IKmUmfqlReZm6VYN343lSzDOioGRc3fKuEo-DKCER8eNYYuRls2KvTAqpaNB2g3K_3RMZPWFaeveWPTLExm2PsTe1DZmVIWpDjm4jDkadpYTB-zWZeZIL36ZlS/s320/IMG_6957.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxmobvHtdyMNvnh30y21BLWur7BNu18OgsHdmwCFot3WRMyGK_AjGT0Q3nzIm6f8NoEnRN4Ekk5fBkyi02cxNTX5Hq5pi8tKb1Zcd2P09UU7IjzmOmABQEtWTyXOEmQFttbRPZp5hLaou/s1600/IMG_6958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxmobvHtdyMNvnh30y21BLWur7BNu18OgsHdmwCFot3WRMyGK_AjGT0Q3nzIm6f8NoEnRN4Ekk5fBkyi02cxNTX5Hq5pi8tKb1Zcd2P09UU7IjzmOmABQEtWTyXOEmQFttbRPZp5hLaou/s320/IMG_6958.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: start;">After pics- day 12.. slightly less squishy</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Also, here's a close up in case you were like, I really want to see what this incision looks like. As you can see, it runs along the groinal region and down the inner thighs a few inches.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pbvAXJiNhqGhyphenhyphenY9Y9lMrZcHkmq1GYmG0-FRWjy-BgNhyphenhyphenMoL1Dn5BPfxvsSTlw0Ru_FhMFjNguwJ8shPNMn0sOWgeoeiV-2dqLkbb40c_Nrzgeq1e1NUy0heEhqPodwD6gg3-pPhI-f_1/s1600/IMG_6959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pbvAXJiNhqGhyphenhyphenY9Y9lMrZcHkmq1GYmG0-FRWjy-BgNhyphenhyphenMoL1Dn5BPfxvsSTlw0Ru_FhMFjNguwJ8shPNMn0sOWgeoeiV-2dqLkbb40c_Nrzgeq1e1NUy0heEhqPodwD6gg3-pPhI-f_1/s320/IMG_6959.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So there you have it. I was starting to get a little worried going in to this surgery because I read a number of stories from people that had the thigh lift, arm lift and tummy tuck in various stages and many said the thighs were the worst in terms of pain and incisions busting open. I could still run in to complications but I was pleased with how quickly the pain subsided (and wasn't that bad to begin with) and how much more mobile I was earlier on this time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'm really going to love going back and reading this post when I inevitably collapse in a stairwell this time next week with a host of medical problems, but for now- feeling good!</span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-88083614450127592922016-06-15T05:50:00.001-07:002016-06-15T05:50:58.586-07:00Couch life... Day 6It's been almost a week so that's good right? I mean I'm still alive and healing and feeling good so those seem like positive indicators. It's a weird feeling to kind of just be finding ways to pass time and make the days tick away as quickly as possible. I sure as shit don't wish I was at work but fuck, not working is also not fun. I guess I just want to get through these boring days when I still have drains in and can't really go out anywhere and, if I'm being real, I want to get back to fun things like brunch and day drinking and beer gardening. That seems reasonable, yeah?<br />
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So I went back to the doc for a follow up on Monday which was 4 days after surgery and he said the drains have to stay in til Friday. Whomp whomp. But now it's Wednesday so I'm halfway there and it's not like I'm doing anything anyway where the drains are a huge damper on my life. I hook them onto a lanyard when I shower so I could do without that swinging pendant of bloody grenades, and they've also been a nuisance when trying to take some decent pictures of my incisions and post surgical thighs.<br />
<br />
I will hopefully post some pics soon but so far the only ones I have been able to take are full-on clam shots. It's not like I'm modest about showing my shit on the Internet (for the right price I'd probably pedal homemade porn) but I haven't been able to shave my vag for a week so needless to say it's treacherous downtown. And also I guess it's just more normal to wait to post pics until I don't have 3 drain tubes chillin out maxin relaxin all cool, or you know, my beave in the shot. So maybe on Friday I'll have some pics that don't look like they came from a low budget snuff film.<br />
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Aside from spending my time taking genital selfies, mostly just watching TV and fighting with people about politics in Instagram comments, because that's the American Dream and stuff. Feeling good and going to try driving tomorrow, weeee! No pain and haven't needed percocet or even tylenol since the weekend, so recovery has been quite smooth so far. And with that, I've surely jinxed myself.<br />
<br />Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-46132029188427373302016-06-11T12:30:00.000-07:002016-06-11T12:30:42.014-07:00Post Surgery Day Dos<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Damn has it really only been 2 days since surgery? It's not that it really feels like it should be longer, but the days go slowly when you spend the vast majority of time sprawled out in a recliner. I feel pretty good overall, and feel more mobile today than I did yesterday, but I still find myself pretty weak and exhausted after being up and about for too long. And "up and about" is really just like wandering around the kitchen or sitting at the kitchen table instead of on the recliner. Doesn't take much to wipe me out!</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pain feels slightly better today than yesterday. I took a Percocet at 7:30 this morning and haven't needed anything since, nearly 8 hours later, so hopefully that keeps improving. The only time I really have noticeable pain is when I first go to stand up from reclining which is a multi step process where I pep talk myself into sitting up then finally getting to my feet. But even that subsides pretty quickly, so overall it's not too bad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tomorrow I can finally take off my sexy crotchless bike shorts and SHOWER. I'm both excited for that and also nervous because I have no idea what the removal process will be like, plus trying to hold onto my drains (I have 3) and then actually get clean seems like an ordeal. Funny how your definition of ordeal changes when your day consists of napping, standing, peeing, sitting. I'll get through it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's funny how I did all this for largely cosmetic reasons and to have some slimmer sexier thighs yet I don't really care much how they look at this point. I'll be more excited to see them in a couple weeks when the swelling and discomfort has subsided but right now I'm more interested in just making it through each day and feeling better and stronger. It's hard to really think of hotass thighs when you're covered in gauze and bandages and bike shorts and drain tubes but I know underneath all this crap they're doing their thing and will be looking good. Apparently the doctor also did some additional lipo on my stomach when he was redoing/lowering the scar so I'll have to check that out as well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don't have major appetite yet but I've been onto slightly more normal foods at least. I had some sushi last night and matzo ball soup for lunch today so it's nice to be eating something other than eggs and toast. I forgot to weigh myself the morning of surgery, and probably haven't weighed myself in a couple weeks or more, but it's probably just as well so I don't feel inclined to obsess over how much weight I lose or gain in the following days and weeks. I can't even imagine stepping on a scale in the days after surgery and having one more pointless thing on my radar or getting excited about the short term weight loss from not being able to eat much while my body recovers. I'd rather focus on less superficial things like how my thighs look in a pair of trashy cutoffs, obvs!</span></div>
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Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-8371292309565384342016-06-10T05:16:00.000-07:002016-06-11T05:42:13.717-07:00Post-Op Straight Chillin<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Surgery is behind me, WUTT. It kind of just crept up on me with very little fuss or shenans beforehand since I didn't tell many people about it until this week and I realized most of my planning last go-round was overkill. I mean, last year's "last supper"-esque dinner with my roommates and "last weekend before I get cut up" bar crawl were fun but perhaps unnecessary. So I tried to maintain a bit more of an under the radar approach this time, which is somewhat unprecedented for my attention craving self.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Surgery felt quick and straightforward. I was supposed to be there at 10:30 but was told surgery not be for awhile after. I got there early, a little after 10, and was taken back to change and get an IV by 10:20 or so, and went in for pics, getting all markered up, then surgery shortly after 11. And then woke up in recovery sporting some sexy crotchless bike shorts a few hours later. General anesthesia is magical like that. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Unlike last time I didn't have to spend the first night in a hotel with a nurse so I was back at my parents' house by 4:30 or so yesterday. I felt much more alert and able to move around on my own a lot better this time whereas last time I kept passing out trying to walk to the bathroom. I'd say the pain is a bit worse this time, but I also had a sweetass "pain buster" fannypack thing I wore last time that delivered some kind of pain relief stuff right to the incisions. Even still, the pain hasn't been terrible, maybe a 4 out of 10, and managed pretty well with Percocet as needed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Back to the crotchless bike shorts (everyone should really have a pair for foreplay if nothing else)... very grateful for them. Trying to unhook my drains and yank these bitches down every time I have to pee would be nightmarish. And I think I've managed to only minimally pee on myself so far. You're welcome!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So that's about it so far. I must have had a tube down my throat because my throat has been sore and swallowing is hard (life motto) so mostly just eating eggs and yogurt so far. I'm heading to the surgeon in about an hour for a follow-up so I'm hoping I haven't popped any stitches or fucked up anything in the first 16ish hours post-op. Will update later!</span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-21841793996878912732016-05-25T09:39:00.001-07:002016-05-25T09:39:49.000-07:00Exercise Shmexercise<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After having my exercise routine disrupted for the past month or so and being limited in what I could do, and then having to take 10 days completely off, I tried telling myself not to take exercise for granted. Because, you know, being physically able to do shit is a gift and not being able to exercise also sucks, as it turns out. I went through a similar mental exercise when I had surgery last year and actually briefly got emo about not having that constant in my life for over 6 weeks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But as it turns out, now that I've been able to get back to my mostly normal gym and workout routine for the past week, it still sucks and I still dislike it and I don't have any new appreciation for it. In fact I'd really come to enjoy getting to go right home after work and spend that hour and change laying in bed watching TV or reading Us Weekly rather than at the gym. It feels especially annoying to be getting back into this routine just to disrupt it again in 2 weeks when I have surgery 2 and am out of commission for god knows how long, but I guess the silver lining is that in 2 weeks I'm back to lazy mode while I recover. We'll see how much animosity I have in July when I have to go through this yet again but much more out of shape.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh and my back/spine feels good for now. Apparently I have 2 partially torn discs in my lower back so the next step is physical therapy and then spine injections, but since the pain comes and goes and the doctor said it's fine to workout in whatever capacity doesn't cause pain, I'll probably wait til after surgery to start PT and figure out the next steps with that. Damn I'm like a broken heap of old woman these days with my ailments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Surgery is 2 weeks from tomorrow and just ready to be on the other side of it. I was thinking the other day how I shake my head at the prospect of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on a wedding but then toss $17k at elective surgery in a 14 month span, so perhaps I can't judge. But hey, surgery lasts longer than marriage more often than not- these scars are forever! My thighs better look daaaaaayum good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-76227329421991876012016-05-09T11:14:00.000-07:002016-05-09T11:14:15.160-07:00Monthly hello<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Apparently I started writing this post a few weeks ago and, SHOCKING, never posted it. So I'll just keep what I've got going since lord how knows it might take me if I start from scratch again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">-------</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hmm my post title probably sounds like some creepy name for getting your period, but no. It's just been 5ish weeks so I might as well blast out an update. Except I don't really have any exciting updates so it's more like, here are some words.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I fucked up my back in some manner or another about a month ago, just before Easter. It started out as a general mild soreness which I figured was yet another byproduct of my shitty softball swing or my inability to stay upright in flag football or perhaps questionable form in burpees. I'm still not really sure where things went wrong but a few days later it had become pretty obnoxious and kept me out of the gym for 5 days before it mostly got better, then got much worse. Last Tuesday I had to stomp out of a HIIT class early after doing god knows what to my back leaving me in terrible pain, then cried for the duration of the 20 minute drive home before not being able to sleep at all because laying in bed was such an uncomfortable beast. Getting old is stupid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I went to my PCP and then a spine doctor and I'm awaiting an MRI, but it has gotten a bit better since last Tuesday so that I'm at least able to run and hike and do a few lower impact things until I know what's what. I also got a cold/strep situation last week that I'm trying to clear which is mostly just of lot of ugly throaty coughing, but sleeping through the night is overrated anyway, isn't it?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">--- </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Anyway to build on that, even 2 weeks later I still don't have my MRI results nor has my dumb cough/cold/strep/allergies/AIDS gone away. So basically, the last 2 weeks have been a wash in the medical improvement arena. My workouts have been limited to running and lifting, not sure when kickboxing might be back in the picture again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Surgery is exactly a month from today. I've kind of forgotten about it and partly debated whether to even have it, at least right now, but I want to just get that shit over with. And I paid the balance today so now this bitch is happening whether I like it or not. I'm excited for it to be like, 3 weeks post-surgery when I have the hopefully svelte new thighs but none of the drama or recovery, which I'm currently not in the mood to deal with. My sister, god love her, is a drama queen and thinks this is unnecessary and I'm a surgery addict or some such, so I haven't even told her it's for sure happening but I'm sure her opinion will be a tediously long and unsolicited one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Nothing much else in my world! At least related to the limited and uninteresting topics of weight loss, calorie counting and the like. I'll update again eventually, at the latest shortly after I have surgery and have a shit ton of free time.</span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-8344539305784826482016-03-22T06:51:00.001-07:002016-03-22T11:42:27.490-07:00Peeps season, pictures, and some other stuff<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It occurred to me yesterday that Easter is in less than a week and I haven't yet consumed a single Peep or Cadbury egg. Don't worry, it'll happen, and the delay is not because I've become some kind of sugarless health nerd, I've just been trying to finish up the Christmas and V-Day candy, Girl Scout cookies, and other sugary snacks hanging out in our kitchen. More importantly, my old ass still makes my parents get me an Easter basket or 2 every year so I'll be getting the goods in just a few short days and I'm really excited to see what kind of new Peep technology is out there this season.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I will, however, pour one out for the Shamrock Shake I never got around to consuming this Sham Shake season. I tried 1+ times to acquire one but apparently the 24 hour McD's doesn't do desserts at 2 am. NONSENSE. The fact that I get legit sad over things like missing the window for a Sham Shake is exactly why I'll never be skinny. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now that it's been a year and 11 days since I had surgery, and because the doctor wants to revise the ab scar, I figured I'd share some updated pics. You can see in the first pic that the scar is less flat/faded on the right side and the skin on that side juts out a bit more, but in the second pic when the scar is covered it's not really noticeable. Still, if I'm going to be knocked out and sliced open anyway, I'll defer to the doctor's judgment on that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Isn't it funny how I would never in 100 trillion years post half-nudes of myself on the internet if not for having surgery (I'd just sext them to randos on Snapchat like everyone else) but doing something like this makes the whole thing seem more scientific and so I just don't care enough to feel self-conscious. Although if there's anything I should feel self-conscious about, more than my imperfect body parts and my scarring it's my horrible selfie faces when I'm trying badly to act nonchalant. But that's neither here nor there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And so while we're at it... here come the really questionable pics. The "before" thigh pics. I feel somewhat more defensive about this surgery since a few people have expressed concern or skepticism about me having another procedure. Even though I've explained to everyone 4700 times that it's really all part of the same issue, excess skin from weight loss, and this is the last piece of the shitty puzzle, if the puzzle was being sawed open and removed and sewn back together. I don't think that's how puzzles work but you get the gist. Anyway, I feel fairly confident that I don't have body dysmorphia or any kind of weird self-esteem of body image issues. I'm pretty objective and know what's what. For example, I generally find myself reasonably bangin and I've got some nice parts. However, I think that reasonable objective minds would also agree that my thighs, particularly the upper inner thigh region, have some excess skin/fat that kind of leaves them a bit droopier than everything else. Sure they might be improved a smidge if I lost another 10-15-20 pounds, but some of that is just skin from being stretched out, etc. And losing weight is the hardest. So anyway, here in all their excess-skinned glory, are my current thighs:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I think with the last surgery I at least felt a moment of hesitation and anxiety about posting the before pics, but now that I'm a seasoned veteran and have literally posted pics of my body with blood and gore-filled drain tubes hanging out of my incisions (TMI much?) it's like whatever, my thigh fat is nothing at this point. As you can see, when my legs are together the upper thighs kind of just collide at the top (what's a thigh gap??) but when they're spread further apart you can really see how much extra skin there is. Pictures don't totally show it, but that upper inner pocket is just much stretchier and looser than any other part of my legs, so I don't think that would go away without surgery. Sure, I could live out my days and years with that there and would be fine.. I don't get rashes or anything fortunately. But, I would like to rock some shorts and not feel self-conscious about that area, and now seems as good a time as any to do it, so then I can be done with this shit FOREVER.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, there you have it.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-75658201753343762192016-03-16T14:49:00.001-07:002016-03-16T14:49:11.317-07:00Thinking of a post title is the hardest part<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here I was thinking it hadn't been THAT long since I've posted but nope, 2 months. I swear I've at least started a post in that span, and I'm convinced that I get stumped by the daunting post title line. Being creative is hard, and just calling it "TUESDAY MARCH 15, 2016" seems dry. Maybe I'll just start going with rap lyrics that make it seem like I'm going to talk about something more interesting than fiber.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On the fiber note, I have been trying to focus on increasing my protein and fiber intake which sometimes seems easy and other days it's like ... OK am I actually talking about my fiber intake? How old am I? Holy hell. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ughhh anyway, so I really hoped to post something about a subject other than surgery prior to the inevitable "soooo I'm gonna have a thigh lift" post, but too late. I guess I only get inspired to blog when I get to talk about something gory like having my groin split open to have thigh fat scraped out. That's an appetite-killer if ever you needed one. I was at the surgeon's office for a follow-up on last year's (I can't even believe it's been over a year, what have I been doing??) procedures and scheduled the thigh lift for June 9. The doctor also said he wanted to redo/revise the ab scar at the same time because he wants to bring it a bit lower and flatten it more since it's currently depressed (as in lowered into the skin, not in need of Cymbalta). This was not something that had even crossed my mind as I'm perfectly happy with the ab scar and it's not visible in bathing suit bottoms. However, he thinks it could look better and he'd do it for free ("free"). I was on the fence initially but now thinking I'll let him do his thang. It will mean slicing open the original incision again and having one drainage tube, but the doc claims it won't really affect my recovery time. So, that's that in that department.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Weight, life, health, food, exercise-wise, all the same. Which I tend to think is a good thing. I had the same lazy thought that I had a couple months out from surgery last time that it wouldn't kill me to lose 5 pounds beforehand but I'm betting against that happening. My body (or more accurately, my willpower and my beer/carb-loving soul) seems to like this weight, and I'm just not sure I have the motivation to really press forward to lose a few more pounds, even though I'd like to. Damn, if I'm too lazy to even set a hypothetical goal of achieving something, I'm probably too lazy to achieve said goal. Whatever man, I feel good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I will try to update about things other than surgery but I really need to think of some better topics. Otherwise we might as well wait til I get crazy enough to do another juice cleanse, and nobody wants that. Lates.</span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-9184513558917023212016-01-12T14:01:00.002-08:002016-01-12T14:01:18.408-08:002016<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">12 days into 2016 and I’m not feeling it. I’d imagine this is more indicative of the
annual post-holiday comedown combined with it being cold and busy at work more
than an indication of how 2016 will go, but just the same, 2016 needs to get
its shit together. I type this at
3something p.m. on a Tuesday (my least favorite day of the week) where I’m on 5
hours of sleep and nursing a Fireball hangover and a Clemson loss so I suppose
my opinion on anything might be somewhat skewed at the moment. I’m really failing at my recent goal of trying
to be more positive, aren’t I?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Other than last night as the obvious outlier, it’s been a
pretty healthy 2016 so far. I’m not
being as regimented as I was last January when I gave myself a bullet pointed
list of guidelines to follow for 21 days but the lack of major social
challenges since New Year’s made it easier to hammer out some healthier meal
plans and regular workout routines. So
that’s a positive. See, I’m totally
positive! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I’m not usually into workout challenges because I’m not particularly
motivated to increase my activity or really change my routine at all (32 years
old and I’m already lazily set in my ways) but since I’m a huge nerd and love
Game of Thrones, I’m doing a GoT challenge through the My Fitness Pal
forums. Basically anything where I get
to sign up to be in a house (YAY HOUSE LANNISTER!) and make GoT references
(<3 Tyrion) is enough to reel me in.
And I mean I can’t wait 3 more months for Season 6 to start so this is
the logical fix, yeah? I’ve also found
that in the 2.5 days since it started, the challenge has been a somewhat
positive influence on my life, and as we know I could always use positive
influences. Like today I’m hungover and
want to go home and pass out on the couch, but I’m going to go to the gym
because I know I’m physically capable of doing so and need to get some
challenge minutes. ALSO… the focus is on
a balance of cardio, strength and flexibility, and lord knows I need to work on
my flexibility. That sounds dirty (albeit
appropriate), but also I just don’t stretch enough and I’m increasingly achy
when I work out. The flexibility goal is
65 minutes a week and I think it will be good for me to try to spend more time
stretching and doing some light yoga, and also work on a better balance of
cardio and strength rather than just focusing so much on cardio.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So that’s my 2016 in review so far. I’m going to San Francisco 3 weeks from
tomorrow so that will get this year
moving a bit. Until then, I’ll be
diligently logging my workouts to avoid getting sent to the Night’s Watch, or
whatever other adorably kitschy punishments are in store.</span></div>
Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-84162436692667277852015-12-30T08:46:00.004-08:002015-12-30T08:46:46.330-08:002015<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since 95% of the population is vocally reflecting on how their year went, while also waxing poetic about all of their optimistic and unoriginal resolutions for 2016, I also find myself thinking back on the year and whether it was sufficiently awesome. I think it was? I didn't really accomplish much in terms of adult things like buying a house or procreating or getting a promotion, but I did fulfill my 2015 goal to watch every episode and season of Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy (OK I lied, I got sidetracked after season 5 of SoA but I'll get there eventually...) And if following through with my big plans to get skin removal surgery counts, I did that too and have been ecstatic with the results. So yeah, it's been a decent year in my book, but keep in mind that my book is more like an issue of Us Weekly in terms of size and substance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm not going to set goals for 2016 because the only thing I hate more than goals is people that fucking tell people their goals. Just do your shit, don't tell me about it, if you know me at all you know that I only care about myself anyway and am only giving the requisite nods and "mmhmm awesome!". But anyway, instead I'm thinking ahead to things I'm planning (or hoping) to do this year.. more as something to look forward to now that the holidays are winding down. I'll assign a number from 1 to 10 next to each in terms of the likelihood of it actually happening (10 being the highest).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- trip to San Francisco in February (9.. flight is booked)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- some kind of international trip, ideally not North America (3.5)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- roadtrip to Mississippi with friends (6.5)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- mini thigh lift surgery (7)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- volunteer at DNC in Philly (8.5)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- trip to Oklahoma City and Dallas to visit fam and friends (5)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- trips to DC and NYC to visit friends (9.5)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- date someone over the age of 27 (4)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- finish watching Sons of Anarchy (6)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well that's a decent start. I don't want to get ahead of myself here so if I can do like 3 of those things that'd be solid. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and a safe and healthy or whatever New Year! Just kidding, safe is boring, have a dangerous and exciting New Year!</span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-76891476409093167632015-12-08T09:17:00.001-08:002015-12-08T09:19:17.494-08:00Time flies when you're doing the same stuff as always<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Damnit, I was so good with keeping up with this for awhile! It has been at least a half dozen posts since I've had to start off a post with some generic throwaway comment about how bad I am at updating. I have taken pics on several occasions, and then never get around to posting them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This week will be 9 MONTHS since I had surgery! Holy crap that seems long, but then it also feels like surgery was forever ago so I guess it's about the right amount of time. Despite how dicey the first few weeks after were, life returned to normal very quickly and I've just been up to my usual tricks ever since then. I don't really know what my usual tricks are but it sounds more interesting, doesn't it?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Things I have not done since I last posted: juice cleanses, any cleanses, run any marathons or half marathons or even pretended I would try, lost any new weight, gotten any more elective surgical procedures, volunteered my time for a good cause, really anything to better humanity.. so I guess same old, same old. I have been cooking a lot! And life has been fun and positive and mostly healthy, so all in all it's been a nice little fall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here are a couple of recent pics including one that shows the scar, so as you can see it's about the same as before I guess? It doesn't really bother me, but I wish the arm ones would heal faster. I am going to ask my doctor for any other suggestions for that when I see him next week. I'm the same weight and size as before but feel like I look a little puffier in the current pics. Maybe it's just the angle? Or maybe I'm just a puffy ass person?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZXnAK-zrZscrmQ2mFcmRQy_OpE9vRnptpFWbjMQe0Ggwf5B2e5_n3HXHzrzwStZhG1ZlubWTFhYAttomVEFsGG6zXi3W-EaXcfOeUNnWkvwauFo5srLY79HksDJEFIzwIjuo_h478GjUE/s1600/IMG_6096.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZXnAK-zrZscrmQ2mFcmRQy_OpE9vRnptpFWbjMQe0Ggwf5B2e5_n3HXHzrzwStZhG1ZlubWTFhYAttomVEFsGG6zXi3W-EaXcfOeUNnWkvwauFo5srLY79HksDJEFIzwIjuo_h478GjUE/s320/IMG_6096.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGgNDv4cbJnzEJhx3Neluib2gpjRMOhwIuKZs-Blzob4PJfCQy6CHFOPA6nqevCismM2xtY6IMr9b-PRB7K8LNDIEtCgCDtnZvtM5i8dU7cv07tZ7CCT52EPTQtnmESoZuzZS3U-_egH7I/s1600/IMG_6093.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGgNDv4cbJnzEJhx3Neluib2gpjRMOhwIuKZs-Blzob4PJfCQy6CHFOPA6nqevCismM2xtY6IMr9b-PRB7K8LNDIEtCgCDtnZvtM5i8dU7cv07tZ7CCT52EPTQtnmESoZuzZS3U-_egH7I/s320/IMG_6093.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOZ9LLxn6NfEyESZ8bwvZkLjUK6jgJb15fjnn1tThjntdj9LJpcRp1jWcUYr1XYRD4tDFxUhB8n7irbx002vtpLLCKlT4sUyQBzKgv54zCR8MznkXtOGF7NEx1R_UyZ-1DMxDjo1cJMaOH/s1600/IMG_6094.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOZ9LLxn6NfEyESZ8bwvZkLjUK6jgJb15fjnn1tThjntdj9LJpcRp1jWcUYr1XYRD4tDFxUhB8n7irbx002vtpLLCKlT4sUyQBzKgv54zCR8MznkXtOGF7NEx1R_UyZ-1DMxDjo1cJMaOH/s320/IMG_6094.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So things are good in the surgical department. As any loyal hair followers can see, I dyed my hair brown in October which then faded into the above light brown color and now has some highlights as I transition back to blonde. My god my life is taking some wild rides.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wouldn't be opposed to setting some new goals (in life? in health?) but can't really think of any that aren't stupid (i.e. cleanse) or boring (try a new vegetable!). Since I typically like to do some kind of new outlook which is probably similar to a resolution while I simultaneously don't call it a resolution and bitch about how much I hate people that do New Years resolutions, be on the lookout for something to that effect shortly. By saying shortly, I have irrevocably tied myself to posting again in the next 30 days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If I don't make it before Christmas, happy holidays to everyone!</span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-50238380604205204182015-09-22T06:10:00.003-07:002015-09-22T06:10:57.646-07:006-month follow-up with surgeon, other things, maybe<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was reading back through some older posts including one from June when I posited that my 12ish week check-up would probably be my last. Nope, 6+ months out still hauling down to Chadds Ford every couple months! Despite my whininess about the early morning drive, I appreciate that the surgeon still wants to check my ass out and make sure everything looks aight. The amount I paid before surgery is the total amount for everything including all post-op visits so it's not like he's getting paid any more for additional appointments. I also heard that many plastic surgeons are notorious for lackluster or non-existent post-op care, so I've been pleasantly surprised at how much that has not been the case with Dr. Saunders. (I forget if I ever posted it but in the event anyone in the Philly area, or anyone period, is reading this, my doctor is/was Dr. Chris Saunders in Chadds Ford, PA and Wilmington, DE, and he has been fantastic.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The doctor said everything looks fine and he still recommends using some kind of pressure (i.e. Spanx, compression garments) to improve results. I started sleeping in my binder again pretty much every night a month or so ago, and if I'm not getting any it doesn't bother me at all to have it on at night, so I'll probably keep doing that. Crap, just remembered I forgot to ask him if it's normal/fatal that I've been experiencing some weird pressure-ish tingly sensations in my arms near the elbow when I do body weight exercises like planks and push-ups. I'll bring that up at the November appointment if my elbows don't fall off before then.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ALSO.. while there I asked him about whether I should separately schedule a consultation to discuss the possibility, prices, etc. for a thigh lift and, delightfully, he went through it with me while I was there yesterday. More delightfully... he said that since the extra skin on my thighs is pretty much all at the very top, he would recommend just doing a mini lift/tuck with an incision at the top (as opposed to one running down my inner thighs) and some lipo on the lower parts. That seems a lot less invasive, and he said the recovery is much easier than with the tummy tuck, and I could probably just do a week off of work. A week! Even if I planned for a week and a half, that'd be much more doable, especially compared to the 15 work days I ended up taking off last time. Also, the price was a lot better than expected. Like, I had a mental range of what I thought it might be and what I would reasonably consider paying, and what my absolute worst case but still maybe price would be. Anyway, it was over $1,000 less than the bottom of the range I was hoping for. So, after going back and forth about this for some time now, I would have to say I'm strongly leaning towards doing this, probably next April sometime. And then I'm DONE. I SWEAR. The only other thing I was ever interested in having done with skin removal was the thighs, but couldn't do that with arms and stomach. So I don't think this is something where I'll come back next year and be like, so maaaybe I'll get a Brazilian Butt Lift. I mean not that I wouldn't like a nice big perky ass, but I'm done with slicing and dicing my body after this last bit of extra skin is removed. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And that's that! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My sister and I have been really into hiking lately and trying to find places to hike in PA and NJ, where life is a bit flatter than in other parts of the country. We went hiking in Valley Forge on Saturday and it was beautiful and amazing and between that and 2 softball games that morning, I'm pretty sure I still can't feel my legs and arms. What else? I made the most Allison possible recipe last night which is to say it combined several of my favorite things in the world into one delicious, fall-ish, comforty dish: <a href="http://www.emilybites.com/2015/09/pumpkin-alfredo-tortellini-skillet.html" target="_blank">Pumpkin Alfredo Tortellini Skillet</a>. So damn good. I'm very obviously a pumpkin whore, and tortellini is my jam, so when I saw that recipe I knew it had to come to life. Tomorrow night I'm making orange chicken (I have a few recipes for this, not sure which I'll use but all basically variations of the same thing.. you just don't bread/fry the chicken so it's still really tasty but light) with <a href="http://www.skinnytaste.com/2014/03/cauliflower-fried-rice.html" target="_blank">Cauliflower Fried "Rice"</a>. Then I'm staying in the Jerz with the fam from Friday til Monday or whenever the Pope leaves town and I can actually make it back to Philly again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I guess that's about it for this fascinating week of my life. If we're lucky I'll be able to launch into some new surgery talk in a few months and keep this bitch going a bit longer!</span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-614304438492779562015-09-16T06:10:00.001-07:002015-09-16T06:10:07.961-07:00Is a pumpkin cleanse a thing?<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">UGH I have let way too much time go by with 2 juice cleanse posts hanging out there as my last written word. Don't worry, no more of that nonsense. Unfortunately I do not have a whole lot else to wax poetic about because nothing really inspires me the way pureed kale does, apparently.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's mid-September so despite it still being hot and stupidly summerish outside, I've hit the pumpkin shit up full force. As with every year, my first pumpkin spice latte of the year (PSL, if you will.. I swear to god I don't say that unless I'm trying to be ironic) reminded me that I don't really like "PSLs" but I still predictably adore every other pumpkin infused item that comes my way. It's become such a cliche to love that stuff, but I really actually do because it's delicious. And I really actually love boots and leggings and tights and scarves and oversized sweaters and leaves and all the other basic ass fall stuff that I could fill up an Instagram account with.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've been eating moderately healthy as usual, which is generally to say I eat pretty healthily 5ish days a week and questionably the other 2, which are sometimes but not always the weekend. So weight-wise I continue to maintain roughly the same weight for... 3 years now? With a fun dip earlier this year after surgery. Those few weeks when I couldn't eat were so svelte. Since it has officially been over 6 months now, here are some pics that really show no change from the last few months, but no news is good news, which doesn't entirely apply to this situation but you get the gist. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At this point it probably doesn't make much sense to continually post half-nudes when surgery was so long ago but in case anyone was wondering if there have been any changes or my skin exploded into a fiery mess or anything else weird, the answer is not really. I will try to take some more scar pics soon but I feel like there haven't been many changes on that front either. I wish they would fade a bit faster but I also wish my student loans would pay themselves so wishing is a pretty pointless endeavor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway that's that for now. I'm still cooking a lot, working out, showing up for work on a regular basis, etc. so not much new to report. If I ever magically manage to shed another 15 pounds I'll document exactly how I did it in 40 lengthy and self-absorbed posts but otherwise it'll probably just be these sporadic ramblings for the foreseeable future.</span></div>
<br />Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-49381461358746015772015-08-31T06:30:00.001-07:002015-08-31T06:30:28.843-07:00Juice cleanse part II - the riveting finale<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OK, here's the rest of it went, and then I promise to never talk about juicing or cleansing EVER AGAIN EVER.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Day 2. I've made it past the first day. That's a win, yes? I had planned to go to the gym this morning since I usually work out on Thursday mornings. The cleanse gurus (I feel crazy just saying words like this) say to work out if you feel up to it but take it easy, and I'm certainly not feeling like I need to burn any extra calories. But since it was only 1 day in at this point, I figured I'd give it a go. Ended up feeling totally fine, and for the first time ever in the history of me working out in the a.m. (which is not my cup of tea) I actually felt energized afterward. I think I was mostly excited I didn't die and wasn't chewing on my towel.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I tried blending juice 1, Morning Glory, with a packet of Truvia and about a tsp of PB2 to improve the flavor but no dice, still tasted like shit. It was a little easier to chug though since I knew going in that it was going to suck. I drank 3/4 of it in 4 giant chugs, then decided to have 1/4 cup of scrambled egg whites. Egg whites are on the approved list and it was just enough to make it feel less likely that I'd pass out during my court hearing this morning. Success! Mood is about an 8.5 out of 10, life is surprisingly good for living on liquids. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Same feelings about Spicy Pome Granate as yesterday.. tasty, a fun little switch-up with the cayenne, not doing much for my hunger. My coworker just came back with a burger and fries from Five Guys and I can smell it wafting over from her office. My other coworker also offered me some M&Ms and I started reaching for some forgetting about this cleanse and then I probably looked like I was having a seizure when I violently whipped my hand back when I remembered. Ahh M&Ms, I see you. Mood declining.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I started having my first headache of this experience around 11:30. I've only had one (small) cup of joe today so after Spicy Pome I'm going to have some iced coffee and hope that helps. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">4 pm update.. I had some coffee, had my lunch juice which I drank like 85% of but then was just like, no mas. Headache went away and came back. Now I'm drinking my 4th juice, Acai Blend. I'm losing steam quickly and feeling a bit out of it, not light-headed, just like I'm not really functioning at peak levels. Definitely hungry and a little nauseated from the hunger. I think my pee smells weird, in case you were wondering. Mood score in steady decline since this morning. Probably down to a 6/10 but at least I'm more than halfway through this charade.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Day 2 ended... somewhat lethargically. When I got home I put on PJs and laid in bed watching TV for awhile, tired and not feeling fantastic. At 7 I drank my dinner juice which was good (PB & Jus.. peanut butter, banana, strawberries) and guzzled it quickly. I was definitely feeling pretty low energy at that point, not really hungry, just kind of blah, and incredibly glad there was only one day left. I was debating not getting out of bed again and skipping the last juice of the day, but finally made my way downstairs to make sure I was still able to move and socialized with my roommate for a bit. She was eating delicious looking spaghetti and meatballs and I sucked down 1/2 of my X-treme Greens juice, then decided to have another 1/4 cup of egg whites so I at least got something savory that I could chew, for all of 30 seconds or so. I felt decent but sleepy, and I went upstairs and crashed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Felt a bit better this morning on day 3. It helped knowing it was the LAST DAY. I also decided to cheat a bit today. I couldn't do another Morning Glory without contemplating suicide, so I decided to make one of my usual green smoothies and have half for breakfast and half for lunch (in lieu of Sweet Spin, better than MG but still pretty unexciting). I felt weirdly guilty about straying but the calories are comparable and I'm still getting spinach and banana, just adding some dairy (ff milk and greek yogurt, which also means more protein, which can't be bad right??) Anyway I think that helped my mood a lot today and I definitely felt a bit more satisfied after breakfast, though my stomach was rumbling when it came time for Spicy Pome at 11.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I put the other half of my smoothie in the freezer when I got into work and now at 2:05 I'm still waiting for it to thaw a bit. Surprisingly not that hungry though which is nice and unexpected since Spicy Pome isn't overly filling. After yesterday afternoon/evening's slow downhill slide, I've been feeling good so far today. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All in all day 3 was pretty decent, especially compared to day 2. I went home and tried my dinner juice, "Matcha Chia" (almond milk, apple, mango, cinnamon, matcha, chia seeds). I don't really know what matcha is but I know I will not be pursuing more of it. Def the worst of the 3 dinner juices. It was drinkable but at this point in the cleanse I wanted something palatable, so I end up tossing the rest and having egg whites and watermelon for dinner. I had half my Xtreme Greens, some more watermelon, then called it a night. Or, called it a cleanse. This shit is finally over!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The after-cleanse phase was totally fine. I thought I would feel weaker on Saturday but I went to the gym and did a short run and body sculpt class and felt totally good to go. My first meal in the post cleanse era was an underwhelming and overprocessed Lean Cuisine breakfast sandwich but it hit the spot and I was happy to be back to chewing. I cooked and baked a TON over the weekend.. lots of healthy but delicious food. It was a good way to ease back into eating again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, all-in-all, it wasn't the worst experience of my life. Days 1 and 3 and about 1/2 of day 2 were fine, albeit boring. The second half of day 2 was rough. I guess if I had any qualms it's that it's a lot of money and I only enjoyed about half of the juices. The Morning Glory juice they give you every morning as your first juice was gross enough to dissuade me from doing it again unless I could sub that one out. It's not that I think the juices were bad quality, maybe just not my cup of tea. If I ever even considered doing anything like this again (which really, why? I don't need to purify my body with liquid kale) I would be more inclined to just make my own shit and mix in more egg whites for protein. Looking at the nutritional content of what I was consuming each day, it's just not a balanced diet whatsoever. Lots of sugar, almost no protein.. a good amount of fiber at least. But really, I could find better ways to make my body feel healthier in a more balanced manner. I was down a few pounds on top of the previous loss on Saturday morning but I don't count on that staying off. I didn't really do it for weight loss, more just to get my brain to focus on something, which I guess it did for a few days. But I did it and it's over and I actually felt really good after. Whether that is mental or a byproduct of the cleanse, who knows, but I wouldn't consider this experiment a terrible thing overall! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">THE END.</span></div>
Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-16935867904796746412015-08-27T08:50:00.000-07:002015-08-27T08:50:14.854-07:00That time I did a cleanse...<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Alright so, I have a massive confession to make, and that confession will also take up this entire post, and will be stupid long, so if you're looking ahead for something less idiotic, give up now. I am doing a juice cleanse. As we speak. I'm judging myself as much as you are right now for partaking in this hippy vegan yoga bullshit, don't you worry. When I hear people dropping catchphrases such as "detox!", "recharge!", jumpstarting my diet!" and "getting rid of the toxins!" (like what are you eating normally, battery acid?), I'm always the first person in line to tell them they're dumb as rocks and then beat them in the face with a shoe.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="color: #222222;">But then of course one fateful night a few weeks ago, after my birthday/birthday week and days on end of subsisting on cake, beer and candy, I was feeling bloated and sorry for myself and magically decided I should embrace the thing I always told everyone else to stay the fuck away from because it's pointless and unhealthy: a massively overpriced and undercaloried juice cleanse. I impulsively purchased a 3-day cleanse on Groupon (from Jus by Julie... their tagline is "A Healthy Obsession".. which part of foregoing chewing and happiness for 3 days inspires obsession, I do not know). $120 for 3 days including shipping, 6 juices per day, so that's not quite $7 per juice... either the price of kale has skyrocketed or they're printing money up in Jus-town. So anyway once that purchase was made, my cheapass was like, well now you've gotta go through with this shit. The only upside was that it would finally give me something to blog about other than that stupid surgery I keep yapping about.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="color: #222222;">I decided based on my gym schedule and what days I could probably most benefit from a lack of food, I'd do Wed/Thurs/Fri. Due to random commitments and plans I had to go to where whipping out a bottle of beet juice would be frowned upon, and working around their delivery schedule, I had to wait like 2.5 weeks from then to actually do the damn thing. For the record, they say you can order whenever and freeze the juices for up to 3 weeks for added flexibility, I was just too dumb and lazy to figure out thawing. So, I ordered it, then decided to actually stop being a fatass and eat healthy, so as it turned out I ate beautifully and nutritiously in the 2 weeks leading up to this cleanse, thereby negating the entire purpose of the cleanse. Thus, when the giant cooler-box of colorful liquid showed up at my office a couple weeks later, I was already like "fuck this shit, can I go back in time and un-order this, sincerely, Allison." I should have actually sent that email.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="color: #222222;">Wow, so many emotions and we haven't even started yet! The day before I actually started going through a spectrum of crazy thoughts that should be reserved for people about to go off to war, or battling terminal illness, not whiny basic bitches with a pornographic obsession for carbs. But alas, on Tuesday morning (1 day BC/Before Cleanse) I bounded out of bed and downstairs excited to make breakfast, then started getting legit sad thinking about how the following morning I would wake up and have nothing but a bottle of "Morning Glory" green crap waiting for me. Like 24 hours before the cleanse and I'm already getting preemptively depressed. Similarly, I spent most of that day bitching to the 3 friends I told I was doing the cleanse (the small handful that I figured would be less judgmental than I am about such things) how angsty I was about being stripped of my food and livelihood. Then, after I got home from the gym and planned to eat a sizable dinner as it would be the last solid food I'd get for the foreseeable future, I mostly lost my appetite. I mean not like real person loss of appetite, basically I still ate like 450 calories, but not the feast I was planning for and ended up a little light on my calories. So, just to reiterate, I was such a worked up nutjob about future non-eating that I inadvertently did more of it. Rough fucking start.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="color: #222222;">And it began. Quick background, you can have the following while cleansing: coffee (thank you baby jesus) with stevia (oh); green tea (nope); raw or steamed veggie greens (I'd rather just starve) and egg whites. Egg whites at least gave me hope, so I boiled a few eggs to keep at work if I needed to start gnawing on some whites, though out of stubbornness I intended to try to wait til at least day 2 for this. Sugar free gum is also a go so at least I'd have something to chew on other than munching my fingers off to prevent me from going online and ordering a juice cleanse ever again.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="color: #222222;">Day 1</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="color: #222222;">Upside is I got to sleep in an extra 25 minutes during the time I normally spend making and eating breakfast and reading Us Weekly. Downside is I slept like crap and woke up tired and starving, not the power combo I was hoping for going into this thing. I made my coffee (black with stevia, not terrible) but waited til I got to work to dive in to the wonderful world of juicing. OH and it was also weigh-in day, plus I wanted a before/after so I could at least see how many pounds of temporary water weight I violently shoved out of my digestive system. Don't you fucking know I was down 2.6 pounds, a combination of actually having a good week and also being a few hundo calories below my target the night before. The day you start a juice cleanse is not the day for an artificially dramatic loss.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, 8:20 a.m., first juice of the day... Morning Glory. 16 fluid ounces of "romaine, kale, spinach, apple, celery, banana, strawberry". I went in thinking I wouldn't mind the green juices since I do green smoothies a lot and foolishly thought that was the same. NOT SO. My usual smoothies are sweet and taste like PB and banana and smiles. This thing tasted like the inside of a sweaty hat. I was legit plugging my nose, chugging as much of it as I could handle, then chasing with water. BLEH. I really thought the hard part of this would be hunger from lack of food, not that the juices would be so hard to get down. The other juices seem more promising but now I'm worried. I can't do 5 more like that. The bright side is that it took my about 40 minutes to get through it, so if I have an iced coffee in a little bit the next course will be here before I know it. Of course, if that one sucks, maybe that's not a good thing. Current rating of how I feel about this godforsaken juice cleanse: 1/10</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Round Dos. 11:15 a.m.. Spicy Pome Granate. This one is master cleanse type shit, consisting of pomegranate, lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. This is much better, though less substantial. It's thin and not chunky like that last bastard MG, and although the backslap of cayenne at the end of each sip is a bit odd, I don't mind it. It kind of feels fiery and fun, like it's waking me up. Oh also, I had an iced coffee with stevia (and fine, a splash of milk) around 10:15, but I feel like so far I'm doing OK. Between feeling a little nauseated and my lack of excitement for upcoming juices, I don't feel particularly hungry so that's a plus. Mostly I'm a little mentally sad about not having any real meals to look forward to until Saturday more than anything else. And my asshole friend keeps sending me pictures of cheesesteaks. But this spicy pome is taking awhile to drink and quite lovely so it's a good experience. Current mood: Up to a 5/10, I feel better and less moody overall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On to #3. Almost 2 pm, later than I expected to last until for my "lunch" juice, but I went to Target at 1 and have not been too hungry, surprisingly. This feels like a make or break juice because if I have another like the first one, I'm going to hate this shit forever. Verdict is... not bad. It's green, but this one is spinach, kale, pineapple, banana, mango. I'd say the pineapple shines through the most though it's not quite as sweet and just slightly off. And it has chunks in it, which I know it's supposed to because fiber and stuff, but every now and then it feels like I'm drinking hair. But the taste is tolerable, I'm not chasing it with water, so that's a win. It must be the romaine and celery in the Morning Glory that is tanking it for me. I miss the thought of food as before, but I'm not hungry, for now. The taste of that one was just eh but it was easy to drink and the fact that I don't feel hungry or bitchy is a big plus. Mood: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">OK, we're up to a 6.5/10 because I'm not as miserable as expected thus far.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Drink 4 at 4:15. I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised how not hard it has been to make it from one juice to the next without wanting to claw my eyes out. I am a frequent eater, especially during work days, so the timing/number of juices mostly line up with the frequency of my normal meals and snacks but, of course, these are not normal meals and snacks, they're just bottled salad. This drink is... Chia Berry. Strawberries, chia seeds, lemon, pomegranate. I'm cool with this one. It's sweet and fruity, it has seeds (obviously) floating around but they're not bothersome. I don't like this one as much as the Spicy Pome (my favorite so far) but it's in second place. This one also feels more substantial so I'm hoping it holds me over til "dinner" (ugh, my life..) without too much dramz. I did see some cookies in the kitchen and briefly debated having one them remembered oh right I'm cleansing. That has happened a few times, the mental letdown, but honestly not terrible. Current mood: 7.5/10. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Time for dinner! Hahaha just kidding, no dinner bitch, you get more juice. At 7 I get my Choco-Nana which is chocolate, banana and strawberry. And it is divine, but I drank it in what feels like 2 seconds. I would probably prefer just chocolate and banana without the strawberry joining the party, but still very good. I have one more to go and I'm not starving, though I was before drinking this one. Mood: 8/10</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last one.. X-Treme Greens, 9 p.m. Based on my experience with Morning Glory I had been fearing this one but like Sweet Spin it doesn't contain celery or romaine, and has lime, pineapple, orange and hemp seeds to go with kale and spinach. Turns out to be quite delicious and tastes sweet and citrusy. Fine way to end the evening.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OK it's now Thursday but I better go ahead and post this shit because it is out of control long. And I still have 2 more days of tedious play-by-play on a review no one asked me to write because I need a life. But anyway, my feelings after day 1: surprisingly feeling aight, not hungry for the most part, not lightheaded, at times even chipper. I'm not entirely sure I buy into the BS of cleansing highs but either way I am just glad I don't want to commit mass murder or anything so far.</span></div>
Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-45651917067568818302015-08-20T09:21:00.000-07:002015-08-20T09:21:21.889-07:00An update in the life and history of my vegetable consumption<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have always been quite clear about my disdain for
veggies. Sorry but they’re gross. Or that’s been my primary life outlook for
many years at least. The upside is that
you can still totally lose weight and do so in a relatively healthy-ish and
semi-nutritionally balanced manner even with such loathings. I decided early on that forcing broccoli down
my throat in the name of weight loss was not going to cut it long term, so I
was better off just eating what I liked, in moderation, and maybe over time I’d
slowly learn to like some other stuff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The veggies I liked in 2009:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- corn</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- potatoes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- carrots</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don’t even count corn or potatoes towards my F & V
servings now and really shouldn’t have then.
They have their merits of course, and at the time it was like, OK well
it’s a step up from eating a container of butter or something. Well I guess I never did that, but it is
entirely possible that I counted McDonald’s French fries as a F/V serving at
least once. Other things I counted
towards the F/V intake- tomato sauce; edamame; cherry pie filling; maybe popcorn. I don’t remember. I did eat some fruit at least, though I eat
more of it now. All in all, the veggie
struggle was real as fuck. The blog name
“I Don’t Do Salad” was no misnomer, folks, I really did hate that shit, and
still do in some regards. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, I still don’t care much for lettuce, or raw
tomatoes, onions aren’t my favorite, fuck celery and cucumbers. But you know, I’ve gotten a lot better. I go through a bag or 2 of baby spinach or
arugula every week, I put onions and tomatoes and peppers in most of my entrees
(I like them cooked, still don’t care for them raw). I am all up in the winter squashes…
butternut, spaghetti, pumpkin, I eat those on the reg. I guess they’re technically fruit but
whatever. I don’t mind zucchini and
sometimes eat zoodles, and I’ve become quite fond of cauliflower in many
different forms. I don’t adore broccoli
but I have found myself eating it raw or cooked with some decent
frequency. With some of these, it’s an
ongoing effort to add these foods to my diet and meals, whereas others I
actually enjoy. Either way, I have come
a long way in my emotions towards vegetables.
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I’m sure the veggie lovers of the world are like, who
cares you dumbass, do you think you deserve a medal for tonguing some
spinach? Well, maybe, is someone giving out medals? But in an effort to try to
think of positive changes I’ve made in my life aside from just the weight loss,
I wanted to pat myself on the back for being less of a child and actually
eating some greenery. If only my
child-self – who refused to eat anything at Thanksgiving other than mashed
potatoes and eventually frozen pizza when my family decided to give up trying,
because turkey and sweet potatoes and vegetables were gross – could see me
now! </span></div>
Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-6596272579818637152015-08-17T06:33:00.000-07:002015-08-17T06:33:17.301-07:00Summer would be a terrible time for plastic surgery.<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As usual, I really hate the month of August. It's kind of like February, the last(ish) month of one of the more extreme seasons and I'm over it and ready for the next one. The world doesn't need another basic bitch spewing excitement over her love for the upcoming fall season, but suffice it to say I could spew for days. Aside from boots and pumpkin spice lattes, I'm just bored of the heat and bored of the summer and bored of summer clothes, and based on this list of complaints, my life is clearly too hard.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was going to post surgery update pics at the 6 month mark (which really, at this point who cares, but indulge me) but it's been a minute since I've posted anything so figured I'd do like a 5-month and change pictorial update to demonstrate how things basically look the same (OK so I might be up about 6 pounds, sue me) and it's hard to really say if there has been much progress with the scars. If I was better at lighting and taking pictures I might be able to get a better idea of scar progression but I'm not so I can't. These are from yesterday, 5 months and 5 days tummy tuck and arm lift, a clear indication that I need more things to do on a Sunday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Good old scar view. The left side remains much thinner and lighter than the right side which the doctor reopened.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Just me taking selfies like an asshole. But I'm so tan.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I think my results have pretty much leveled off at this point which is good/normal, and I only rarely experience noticeable swelling around the incision. Per my doctor's instructions, I have been trying to wear and arm wraps and some kind of compression garment around my stomach (sometimes the velcro thing I lived in for the first month, sometimes just Spanx-type of stuff) more often. He said it will improve the results and the speed of scar healing. It's hard when it's 95 and humid and wearing an extra layer of crap, or wearing long sleeves to cover the arm wraps, is massively undesirable, so I'm somewhat spotty with this, but to try to at least where those fuckers to bed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I really need to get my act together with eating healthily because I'm the heaviest I've been since before surgery, or was as of last Wednesday at least. I've been having a good week but I need to string like, 2 or 3 or 6 good weeks together. Most of my habits are good but the things I do badly, like make poor choices when I go out, continue to unravel the good. In an effort to save money, but also to eat/drink more healthily, I'm trying to really limit going out to eat and ideally not drink more than one night per week. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are this week's dinners:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.crazyvegankitchen.com/one-pan-mexican-quinoa/" target="_blank">One Pan Mexican Quinoa with Cashew Sour Cream</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.emilybites.com/2015/07/bubble-up-breakfast-casserole.html" target="_blank">Bubble Up Breakfast Casserole</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Slow Cooker Buffalo Pulled Pork ... kind of a variation of <a href="http://simplybeingmommy.com/2015/03/12/buffalo-pulled-pork-sandwiches/" target="_blank">this</a> but with less butter, and I'll probably have it in soft tacos.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://minimalistbaker.com/baked-falafel-burgers/#_a5y_p=2788892" target="_blank">Falafel Burgers</a> with a baked sweet potato</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don't mean this is a subtle-brag kind of way (though I do love to brag), but it's kind of hard for me to change my habits when most of what I do is actually pretty good. Like every single week, even the bad ones, I meal plan and cook and make healthy dinners and go to the gym. But then I have those 2 or 3 nights a week that are extra bad that undo the good from the other days. Of course, the obvious solution to changing my habits is to just like, not have 2-3 bad nights a week or just be less bad, or just shut the fuck up about it because I've been saying the same thing for years now and clearly not doing anything about it. So, I'm not sure what my solution is, but I'm always trying!! Maybe I will check in here more frequently instead of just when I want to post periodic surgery updates and pictures, because that certainly can't hurt right?</span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-21387286890070607042015-07-15T13:29:00.003-07:002015-07-15T13:31:01.907-07:00July Check-In<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The other day I was reading Us Weekly's "hot bodies" issue which they seem to push out about once every other month, more frequently in summer of course, where they focus on various celebs in slutty beach attire and include quotes from them with tips on how they look so bangin and skinny. I can never decide which is worse.. the ones that are like "I get exercise by chasing my kids around and I try to make small changes here and there!" or the ones that acknowledge reality and cop to their vegan, gluten-free, food-free diets followed by 4 hours of deep sea pilates. Like, the latter is really depressing because we all know (well, I know) that I'm way too lazy, unmotivated and undisciplined to do a fraction of what is required to look that good, but on the other hand when Chrissy Teigen is like, "I love dessert!!" I'm like bitch, you don't even know what dessert is, I'll take your 1/2 cup of frozen grapes and trade you a deep fried waffle sundae and then we'll talk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, I'm not complaining.. those people put the work in for those bodies so if they are willing to forego pizza and happiness then they should get the results. On the other hand... actually I don't remember what the other hand was, I guess all that to say I'm lazy and not very good at not eating so I will never be skinny, the end.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, I continue to truck along daydreaming about being svelter (really just another 12 pounds would be delightful) while hating the process to get there. This seems like somewhat of a first world problem. In an effort to preserve a morsel of perspective, I've been trying to think more about things I've begun to take for granted that I couldn't a few years back when I was at/near my heaviest. I was sitting in the waiting room at the dentist earlier today and the rows of seats with armrest dividers made me think back to doctor's appointments in 2008 when I'd survey the waiting room chairs and debate where to sit and wonder how tightly wedged my hips and ass would be. At the time, it had become one of those things (like flying, and sitting in beach chairs) that would always cause a moment of panic and made my life a bit more stressful. These are the things that you cannot really understand unless you've been substantially overweight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Sorry, that shit got deep yeah? I figured I'd add a few thoughts that were a bit less useless and whiny since most of my posts here lately are somewhat useless and whiny. To provide some more use, I've been really digging some new recipes lately so here are some recommendations: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/white-enchilada-casserole-recipe/" target="_blank">Gimme Some Oven White Enchilada Casserole</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://withsaltandwit.com/walnut-grape-kale-quinoa-salad-white-balsamic-dressing/" target="_blank">Walnut Grape & Blue Cheese Quinoa Salad</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.emilybites.com/2015/04/chicken-and-chorizo-salsa-skillet.html" target="_blank">Emily Bites Chicken and Chorizo Salsa Skillet</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Also, I made slow cooker sweet potato chili on Monday and have finally gotten down an ingredient combination for it that I love. I browned a pound of hot Italian turkey sausage links (out of the casings, broken up while cooking) with 1/2 an onion, diced, and threw that into the slow cooker with a can of Rotel, 2 diced sweet potatoes, an 8 oz can of tomato sauce, a can of drained and rinsed cannellini beans, 2/3 cup water, some cumin, chili powder, a bit of cayenne, and a pinch of brown sugar, and it really hit the spot. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Alright since I provided some good food, I'll end with a picture of me in a new maxi dress (under $25, Old Navy ballllller) showing off my arms and tan. I know, I know, sunscreen, etc. Sorry that I can't not make a stupid face when taking a mirror selfie but a) I was sending it to my sister in need of outfit advice and I wasn't going to stand there posing (oh wait, I am standing there posing) and b) it's my blog so I'll do whatever the fuck I want. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">By way of a very quick surgery update.. everything is good, healing is good, wishing my arm scars would heal faster so I just ordered some silicon scar sheets and will update on how those pan out. Otherwise all good!</span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-5285843395430498822015-06-16T13:08:00.000-07:002015-06-16T13:08:04.933-07:00Pointless mid-June check-in<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've pledged to be more mindful of my beer consumption, as I seem to do a few times a year every year. I hate seeming like an overgrown college burn-out that continually wakes up in a hungover stupor questioning her life decisions- really, my life hasn't devolved to that level just yet. All the same, I know I would feel better if I would just grow the fuck up and drink like a responsible person which means eating actual meals beforehand and remembering that 9% beer will knock me on my ass and to drink slowly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, I'm a couple weeks into that mission and feeling pretty good though there is room for improvement. The beginning of summer is a strange mix of wanting both more and less social plans. I like doing things but then constantly feel like I'm spending too much, going out to eat too much, drinking too much, etc. On the other hand, those things are all fun so maybe I shouldn't complain and should just deal with the occasional hangovers and just existing 10-15 pounds above what I might like to be in a perfect world. I feel like I have this moral dilemma pretty frequently and it always ends with me taking the lazy and more gluttonous road.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />What else? I've started occasionally working out in the morning which I swore I'd never do. My major beef with morning workouts is, duh, getting up earlier because who the fuck wants to do that? However, I realized that my usual morning routine is so stupidly long (usually 90ish minutes) that I have been able to rework it and only have to get up 10 minutes earlier to get to the gym, then just do my makeup while driving (safe) and chalk my hair up as a loss for the day (like it isn't anyway half the time). I definitely don't feel refreshed or empowered or like I'm overflowing with energy and ready to take on the day like some of these other morning workout freakshows claim, but at least it gets it out of the way early. I mostly just do it when I've got shit to do in the evenings, like flag football. Otherwise, I'll probably continue to procrastinate til the evenings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Had my 12ish week appointment with the surgeon, all was good, in and out. I'll see him again in mid-July, but there's really nothing new going on there. I guess that's a no news is good things kinda thing, because it means life is normal and I don't have any restrictions or weird things I have to do anymore. Last night was the first night back at my usual Monday kickboxing class which is only relevant because that is the class where I first decided I needed to have my arms cut off, or cut down at least. It was nice being back at the scene of the crime and not have my arms flapping in the wind as I punched. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's also crazy/fucked up how much I seek out pool-going opportunities so I can wear bikinis. It's like I know I only have a limited window before some other part of my body begins to massively deteriorate or I gain 48 pounds, and I need to get all the bikini-wearing in now. I really want to add a horribly obnoxious YOLO meme but I'll resist the urge. So that's that, life is good, eating is decent and could be better, working out is back to normal, etc. etc. </span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-20039430169396380802015-06-04T14:26:00.002-07:002015-06-04T14:26:14.412-07:0012 Weeks Post-Op, and it's June, and Scar Pics<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yesterday was twelve weeks post-surgery, and I have what
will likely be my last post-op check-up with the doctor next Monday. I really can’t imagine needing to see him for
anything at this point since the only surgery-related stuff I’m still doing is
putting bio-oil on the incisions to help the scars fade. The stomach incision doesn’t bother me at all
since it’s so low down and not visible in anything, but I’ll probably ask if
there is anything else I can do for the arms.
I was at a class at the gym on Monday and got stuck in the very front,
and during overhead tricep extensions I was like, OH RIGHT, I have bigass scars
snaking up my upper arms that the world can see from this position. That said though, they don’t bother me and I
don’t regret the surgery at ALL because my arms (pythons?) look really good and
feel really good, and when my arms are in pretty much any other position, the
scars aren’t visible, or are barely so.
But for the curious among you, here’s what they look like:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pretty funky, yeah?</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Working out has been good, normal, haven’t started leaking
guts out of any incision or orifice. I’ve
been slow to up my running because I’m lazy and not all that ambitious but I’m
almost back to 4 miles, and could probably do it if I actually had any
willingness to push myself. I was
nervous about lifting at first but that has been totally 100% fine. So basically, I’m just pretending I never had
surgery, other than the 3-4 minutes I still spend checking myself out in the
mirror every morning. It’s horrifically
vain but when you’ve never had a flat stomach in your adult life (or really,
adolescent life either) and then a magical doctor is like, “TADA! Here you go!”
you revert back to 13 year old-caliber narcissism trapped in a 31 year old’s
body. </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I’m still doing MFP and have basically leveled out weight-wise
the last few weeks after some extreme ups and downs. I’m not as low as my lowest but about 7
pounds lower than what I was before surgery so that is OK with me I think. I’ve been tracking like a beast but could be
making better decisions, particularly on the weekends and particularly on the
drinking front, so that’s my goal for June. </span></div>
Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-63040691955303420722015-05-19T08:20:00.000-07:002015-05-19T08:20:11.937-07:00Stuff and more stuff, none of which is really groundbreaking<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Damnit
I’m so bad at remembering to post the minute I stop having exciting
updates. I guess I’ll have to get my
thighs done just to keep this bad boy going.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I
made my triumphant return to the group fitness scene last night at
kickboxing. It was good to finally do
something other than run on the treadmill because that shit gets boring real quick. I ended up being 2 minutes late which was
probably for the best because I had to just jump in and go rather than spend 5
minutes fretting about if I’d be able to do things. I had been worried about burpees and push-ups
and how they’d feel on my arms but they were surprisingly fine. My push-ups are pretty sad looking from being
out of practice (not that they were anything to write home about before) but
the motions themselves didn’t cause any issue.
Punching on the bags was the only thing that felt weird, and really only
on my left side, so I will probably scale that back a little, but otherwise I
think I’m back to normal with exercise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let’s
be real though, no one really gives a fuck about the intricacies of my evening
at the gym, and anyone reading (i.e. the 3 people that inadvertently stumbled
onto my blog while googling salad recipes) wants the same thing I want out of a
blog.. pictures. I don't have any good food porn to share so you'll have to just look at me instead. Nothing has changed recently
but naturally I still haven’t gotten tired of staring at myself in the mirror
every single morning admiring my surgeon’s handiwork and photographing it so
that when I’m 75 I can look back on that glorious year when I had a flat
stomach. I also have some recent arm
pics, including a comparison of the old and new arm while doing the signature “arm
on hip because it’s skinnier that way” maneuver. The first side pic (right side) is kind of
misleadingly narrow based on the angle that I always seem to take pics from
that side, as you can tell by the way the mirror narrows. But you get the gist.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And just a friendly reminder of my arms and stomach before- </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, I remain very happy with the decision to get this stuff done. And just to throw in some stuff that isn't about surgery, I tried an awesome new recipe this week- <a href="http://www.emilybites.com/2015/04/chicken-and-chorizo-salsa-skillet.html" target="_blank">Chicken & Chorizo Salsa Skillet</a>. I highly recommend. I'm also making another Emily Bites favorite tomorrow night, <a href="http://www.emilybites.com/2014/10/sausage-tortellini-skillet.html" target="_blank">Sausage Tortellini Skillet</a>. And last night I made tuna and chick pea noodle casserole which is a weird combination but I once saw a vegan version using chick peas instead of tuna and I was like, WHY NOT BOTH??? So that was also delicious. I just used this <a href="http://www.campbellskitchen.com/recipes/tuna-noodle-casserole-24254" target="_blank">classic version</a> and added a can of chick peas. I still eat and drink irresponsibly on the weekends, but my meal-planning during the week remains reliable at least!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And finally, I have zero idea of my goal weight and don't even really care at this point, so I guess that's good? While micro-examining my body like a weirdo, I decided the only thing I really don't care for are my thighs, and I've already laid out the surgery possibility for that. I know I could/should/wouldn't kill me to lose a few more pounds, and I'd like to and am theoretically trying to, but I've been maintaining my post-surgery weight pretty well so far (minus a giant 9 pound swelling nightmare post-Vegas) so I don't know if I should just stop stressing about it and keep tracking and see where shit takes me. That's the plan for now at least!</span></div>
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Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-45023720353016149402015-05-05T07:02:00.002-07:002015-05-05T07:02:27.885-07:00Vegas, arm scars and scorching sunburn<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Vegas was a real good time, albeit chaotic due to the Mayweather-Pacquaio fight. It was the first time I went long stretches of time without wearing the arm wraps or a compression garment or binder on my stomach, and I lived to tell about it so that's good. I am still wearing those things most of the time, esp. when sleeping and at work, and will probably keep doing so until it becomes warm enough that I want to be able to wear short sleeves more often, but figure I'm far enough out that I can go without when fashion dictates.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was a bit self-conscious - or maybe that's not the word, maybe aware is what I'm looking for? - of the arm scars since I was in strapless or sleeveless dresses all weekend. You can see the bottom half-inch or so of the scar on each side by the elbow when my arms are by my sides, and I realized you can (obviously) see the whole scar pretty well if I put my hands above my head like to put my hair up, or when I'm dancing like a basic bitch. I need to remember to take an updated picture later when I have the wraps off. I generally don't find the scars too bad and they are a necessary evil with this surgery, but I think this weekend was the first time I remembered they're there. The stomach incision, on the other hand, is totally covered by underwear or bathing suits or whatever else.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />And speaking of, I DID IT, I wore not one but two bikinis for the first time really ever. I had a couple of cropped tankinis when I was 18 or 19 that had more stomach exposure, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and as a kid I had some basic kid-caliber 2-pieces,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> but still not like, full on.. so I feel like I'm going through some delayed development shit wearing my first real bikini at the age of 31. I also did a shit job of applying sunscreen and missed various bits of my body including my entire chest, so I got a pretty funky burn, but all in all I was just happy to be able to rock my shit at the pool and not really feel self-conscious, at least no more than that usual quick moment of anxiety when you first strip your clothes off and you're not sure if you have a boob hanging out. Anyway, here's a pic because, of course I took pics because I'm a vapid narcissist:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Like that red splotch under my belly button? Apparently that area is crazy sensitive to sun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I guess from here I'll mostly be winding down the surgery posts as there won't be too many updates, other than maybe just an occasional scar pic to show how they're healing. I'm still doing MFP and even tracked my shit all weekend although it wasn't exactly a pinnacle of nutrition. I'm hoping to eventually resume some other exercise in addition to running in the next few weeks. So, life is pretty much back to normal at this point!</span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808310043089221249.post-28935258128068598782015-04-29T13:11:00.000-07:002015-04-29T13:11:51.748-07:00I'm a normal person again!<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I’m
now so many days post-op that when I refer to it in days I want to slap myself
like when people talk about their baby being 32 months old. But sometimes I hate saying “I’m 6.14159 weeks
out…” But so anyway, today is the 7 week
mark exactly so that’s easy math.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">More
important than the weeks, I can do everything a normal person can do again
basically! I had an appointment with the
doc last Saturday and don’t have to see him again until June, so that means he
is OK setting me into the wild on my own to do things and trust that I won’t
die, start seizing, exploding or pop anything, etc. He said I could start working out again, lay
out in the sun, and basically whatever the fuck I want, or something close to
that. He said to keep wearing some kind
of compression on my stomach and arms because the more/longer I do it, the
better the results tend to be, but left when and how I do that up to me. So, I ordered some Spanx-y type stuff that is
less bulky than my fug Velcro binder, and figure I will still wear something on
my stomach and arms most of the time, but may start to reduce it a bit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I
also went back to the gym Monday and yesterday and I lived to talk about
it! Monday was pretty awful. It actually wasn’t awful in that I expected
everything to feel messed up, and like my body parts were going to fall off or
my incisions would burst open, but surgery-wise I felt fine and totally
normal. But my lungs started burning for
oxygen very shortly in and I only got through 13 minutes before I had to stop
and walk, although I did do another 6 minutes after that and it felt better and
less murderous. Yesterday I did 23
minutes, walked for 3, then 4 more, and I didn’t really feel that close to
death any of the time. I did go a little
bit slower than normal but all in all, I feel like eventually I will be back to
some kind of acceptable physical condition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And,
I’m going to Vegas this weekend and bought bikinis to wear in PUBLIC and I’m
not nervous about it. What is this
shit?! We’ll see how it goes. There is still a pretty noticeable difference
in swelling from morning to evening, especially after I work out, but it’s not
that bad compared to horror stories I’ve heard.
Or to the swelling abomination I was experiencing in weeks 2-3. I’m actually really glad I took 90 million
pictures constantly because yesterday I was looking back on pics from the last
7 weeks and it’s crazy to see how much the results have changed and morphed as
my body has recovered and the swelling has subsided. I even put together a collage that probably
took more time than it should have but it’s helpful all the same. You can see how bad the swelling got in the 3<sup>rd</sup>
picture and then how it finally chilled the fuck out a little after that, which
is when the doctor opened me up to wash all the nasty out. I’m not sure how much more it will continue
to change from here, but I’m really happy with the results as they are so if it
stays as is, it was SO worth it. This
just reminded me that I need to post more arm pictures soon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I had
my second recorded weigh-in today and was down 3 pounds from last week which is
confusing and will not survive Vegas, but it was 5 pounds lower than my lowest
ever which I saw for 5 minutes in February 2013, so the number was like, SHIT,
is this happening?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I had a decent week
but drank a lot on Saturday so I’m not really sure why I’m down so much, but I
expect to see it back up a bit next week.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Will try to post again soon!</span></div>
Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09082889883955178662noreply@blogger.com0