I know I have been really bad about updating.  I have not had much to say lately.  Maybe I should say I don't know what to say lately.  I seem to be in a SAD state these days.  Maybe it really is SAD...  Seasonal Affective Disorder.   Maybe I am suffering some depression because of the rapid weight loss and issues with my new body image?  Maybe I am missing my friend, food?  Whatever it is it really has me down in the pits lately and I can't seem to kick it.  I feel anxious, sad, bored, unfocused, and have a lack of interest in doing the things I normally really love to do.  Sometimes I think it would be best to lay in bed all day and sleep, except I just can't sleep that much.  The world just feels off center to me and I can't seem to put my finger on it. 

One thing I know for sure is I sure do miss Summer.  Where is Spring?  I saw some Robins yesterday, which was a very promising sign that Spring is just around the corner, I hope.  They are forecasting highs in the mid 30's for all next week.  I really want to get out on my bike bike and put in some serious road miles, maybe this next week will offer that opportunity. 

One sure sign of spring is the Tour of California.  Oh Yeah!  It starts today.  We will be spending some time watching that.  Maybe the tour will help snap me out of this funk that I am in.

On the weight loss front I am down to 137 lbs.  I now wear a size two.  Who would have ever thunk, me in a size two!  Though, I seem to be having a bad case of "buyers Remorse" right now.  All related back to this funk I am in I am sure.  Sometimes I question my choice to have WLS and ask myself, was this all worth it?  Sure I am in a size two, look pretty good, and all the health issue I had are gone, but did I trade in one bag of health issue for a bag of emotional issues?  sigh....I really feel alone right now.  Not that I am alone, but I feel like I have lost me and I am not sure where to find me.  Who is this person looking back at me in the mirror?  I don't know that I like what I see.

Well like I said, not much to say these days.  I'm just feeling blah...

A *little* and not so *little*

I thought I should post a little (maybe not so little) update on my journey. It has been exactly six months today since my surgery. In fact, six months ago at this time Dr. Jones was hard at work using his skills to help me start my new life. I am so grateful for skilled surgeons like Dr. Jones.

June 30^th, 2006 I was 241.5 lbs and had many health issues. Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, no energy, I was a wreck!

Reverse to two years prior. I weighed 261 lbs and was a very unhealthy Linda. I am not sure that 261 was my highest weight but it is the highest weight my Dr. had recorded for me in the last five years, so I will use the 261 as my highest weight. In 2004 I was 261 lbs, inactive, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetic. I wore a size 22/24 pants and a 2X top.

My loving husband and I decided to try cycling and discovered that we loved it. Soon cycling became our passion and changed our lives. We both lost a lot of weight. We were feeling pretty darn good but my diabetes and other health issues were still there. Over the course of the next two years, I started to gain most of the weight I had lost back. I had gone from 261 to 202 back up to 241.5. We were still riding bike and lifting weights. I was slowly slipping back into old eating habits and gaining all the weight back, despite our high level of physical activity.

Fast forward to June 30^th, 2006, surgery day and the start of a completely new life. All went well with surgery and I was back on my bike three days after surgery. It was no time at all, I was riding just like before surgery, even better, and the pounds were coming off. I had zero complications and felt great!

Reality sets in… many WLS patients end up going through some level of depression and many head games with food and themselves after surgery. I thought I had escaped all this; things were going so smoothly for me. Then it happened. The issues started with an ulcer, though looking back there were issues that were overshadowed by all the success of losing weight I just never saw them, I was too caught up in all the weight loss.

We are our own worst enemies! Yes, I ended up getting an ulcer that landed me in the hospital. I also ended up spending WAY too much money on clothes and more important than anything I ended up ignoring what was most important; how all this was affecting my loving and wonderful husband.

Being that he is a wonderful and loving husband, he has been patient and understanding beyond words. My focus is now back where it belongs and that is on *us*, not just me. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband.

Here are the stats

Starting weight – 261

Pre-op weight – 241.5

Current Weight – 143

Lost since surgery – 98.5

Total lost – 118

Starting Size – 22/24

Pre-op size – 18/20

Current size – 2

Most important stats?

I survived this surgery.

I no longer have diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

I have a wonderful husband that loves me.

I have pulled my head out of my bottom-end and have refocused on the important things – husband, family and happiness.

Do not let the little things in life get in the way of the things that really matter. Stay focused, happy and enjoy life!

Here is the latest picture update of the progress.

It's been a bit since I have updated. We have been crazy busy and it seems time is just flying by.  Heck, less than six weeks until Christmas and Thanksgiving has passed  AAAAAHHHHHHHH

Things really have been very smooth for me, that is up unitl two weeks ago Thursday night. So here is my *bump in the road*  It two weeks ago Thursday, during the day, I just couldn't eat much (not that I can anyway - duh!) but what I could eat was way less than what I can normally eat.  I even made mention of this to a couple people at work.  When we got home from work on Thursday I started to get a cramping feeling in the upper abdomen.  The pain grew throughout the night and I spent most of the night up, tossing and turning in pain. Friday I stayed home from work, which I rarely call in sick but things were fairly painful.  I thought about going to the ER but decided to take a nap and see if I cold sleep it off.  Woke up a little after noon and the pain was even worse.  Now I am thinking I have some food stuck in my pouch and try the warm tea treatment.  Nope, didn't work.  Things are getting really painful now!  Time to go to the ER.

We arrive at the ER and it is a 3 hour wait.  Go figure, full moon and the ER is full!  Sigh, we wait, and wait, and wait, and......Finally they call us, nope, not to see the doctor, but to get xrays and then back to waiting...sigh.  I think it was another hour before they called us to go back to a room.  That was one long, painful wait!  Almost 4 hours of waiting, but there is more waiting, it is another hour before we see a Doctor. 

Finally a doctor!  He tells us the xrays look good and he wants to do a contrast CT scan.  Fine, they want me to drink this contrast, they start an IV and give me some pain meds - by this time I am in severe pain.  4 dalodid (sp?) shots later and another stronger pain med shot and the pain finally calms down some.   I really was in a lot of pain :(  Back to the contrast, they bring me two large 24 oz cups of OJ with contrast mixed in.  Ummmmm, I can't drink that I have a 4 oz tummy now.  HELLO people, what where they thinking. I drink what I can and I get sick from all the sugar in the juice, nausea, sweats, shaking...sigh.  They take me off for the CT scan and then back to the ER room. They tell me the CT scan looks good give me a RX for pain killers and send me on my way.  9 hours later and I am still in pain and have no answers.

On to Saturday -  Saturday is this big fancy event at a big fancy hotel.  I have been looking forward to this for some time now.  It is a formal for all us WLS patients.  A chance for us to put on our best and be the princess/prince for the night.  I am STILL in pain but have been popping the pain killers all day and wanted badly to go to this.  So Steve and I get all dressed up and go.  I think we looked pretty sharp!

So we made it about an hour after this picture was taken and back off to the ER we went.  I couldn't take the pain anymore.  We got right in this time and they gave me some pain meds.  I am not even going to commenton what rude remarks the first Dr. said to me!  Let's just say that I didn't see that Dr. anymore!  Some Dr.'s really do not get WLS patients.

Anyhow, they admitted me to the hosipital.  I stayed until Monday and was hooked up to an IV and had lots of pain drugs.  Well, turns out I have an ulcer.  Man, do they hurt.  I am glad it was nothing more serious.  So I am on the mend now and things are much better.

I now weigh 152 and have a normal BMI for the first time in over 25 years.  WOOOOOOHOOOOO.  Oh, and I can wear a size 4 Levi's and they are not even the stretchy jeans :)

Hugs!

Linda

4 MONTHS

Well, I have been very bad about updating my blog.  There have been so many things keeping me busy lately.  I wish I had about 4 more hours in each day.  Maybe I should write Congress about adding more time to each day :)

Okay, back to the topic, "4 MONTHS" It has been 4 months since I had my RNY gastric bypass surgery.  About 95% of this surgery has been VERY positive.  I have lost 83.5 lbs.  I have gone from 241.5 lbs to 158 lbs.  I have gone from a size 18/20 in pants to a size 6.  My pants size is smaller than my shoe size! WOW!!!  I have gone form a 1x or XXL shirt to a small or medium petite shirt.  I no longer have diabetes. My cholesterol level is now normal (130) my blood pressure is fantastic 114/68 and my sitting pulse rate is 50.  My Dr. says I am disgustingly healthy.  You won't hear any complaints from me there!  I'll take it.

Wow, has life changed. I have to say that things have been good for me. I have had no real complications and the weight is just falling off. There have been mild bumps in the road. Little pouch pains here and there and some stupid food choices on my part, but the tool is doing it's job and lets me know when I made a bad choice.

For the most part I do not dump. I can eat small amounts of sugar and I am just fine. I am glad for this, as I never wanted to deprive myself of treats, rather I needed something to keep me in check, and the pouch does that. Although, I had a grilled chicken sandwich from burger king and it made me feel yucky. I tossed the buns and only ate the chicken, but it had sauce on it and I think the sauce made me feel icky. Tool at work!

I have reached and passed my surgeon’s goal weight and feel really good about that. I am still riding my bike, exercising and enjoying this new, healthy life style.

I have to say the hardest part of this has been the changes this surgery has brought about in my marriage. DH and I are doing really good, and I am very grateful for a husband, who is open, and can talk to me and tell me how he feels. It is not every couple who can communicate so openly. I truly have my soul mate and I consider myself very lucky to have found that special person to spend my life with.

Would I do this again? Hell yes! Daily if that is what it took to feel this good and have my life back.

Here I am this morning.

Here is a picture story of my progress. Thank you to my DH for putting this together for me.  I am stupid in photo editing and have no clue how to do something like this But here I am starting with pre-op and my most recent taken this morning.

WEATHER OR WHETHER

On to cycling.  Yes!  One of my favorite subjects.  We have been out riding despite the WEATHER and plan on riding WHETHER the WEATHER cooperates or not!  Well as long as it is above 32 degrees and there is no snow or ice on the road :) 

I heard someone say today that this has been the coldest October on record since 1915.  I can believe that.  It has not been a very nice October in Minnesota for the WEATHER.

Since the weather has cooled down we have only been able to get about 100 miles in per week.  We were doing 150-200 miles per week in the warmer summer months.  Oh well, part of the price we pay for living in such a beautiful state.  Though San Diego is looking better and better :)

Yesterday ride was great!  WE did out Lake Minnetonka route and we put in a pretty good pace for speed.  I think we averaged 19.2 mph over 33 miles.  That’s pretty good when you consider the wind was gusting to over 20 mph at times, with a good steady 15 mph wind.  That wind can really war on you especially after about 15 miles of head wind.  Good thing half of the ride was with a tail wind.  I’m sure that helped keep the average speed up.

The seasons are changing and we will continue to ride WHETHER the WEATHER cooperates or not.  We still have our trainers and hours of Coach Troy on his DVD series of spinnervals.  We just picked up Coach Troy's most recent Spinnerval release.  It is a virtual ride with Coach Troy in the fall colors of MD.  I'm a little anxious to give it a try but still not looking forward to saying good-bye to the roads for the season. 

 I really miss the club rides too. This next year Steve and I are going to be ride leaders for our bike club www.biketcbc.org.  That should be lots of fun and will give us something to focus our training on over the winter months.  I would like to be able to come out of the winter months at the speed I am at now with the ability to climb hills better.  If I accomplish my speed and climbing goals in my training then I will only get better on the hills and faster on my average speeds.

 Well, stay healthy and happy!

 Hugs to all!~

Linda

Here it is, my 3 month surgiversary photo.  I am down 71.5 lbs.  I now have a 31 inch waist and wear a siz 8 pants!  Never did I imagine that I would melt away so quickly or feel so good.

Here is a comparison pre-op and 3 months post-op

2 months postop

1 month postop

preop

 3 Months!!! 

Hi All

Just wanted to share my 3-month follow-up I had this past Monday with Dorothy at PNC.

To start with the appointment went great! I got to see my nurse, Dorothy, who is now back and doing well after her surgery complications (not WLS). Yeah Dorothy!

I also got to see Dr. Jones, who remembered me as the "crazy biker girl" Dr. Jones didn't recognize me though. He was amazed at how well I am doing! He told me when I first met with him that he would be very curious to see how WLS turned out for me since I am so active in cycling. He thought back when I first saw him I would have really good results, and so far so good!

Dorothy was so pleased with my stats after just 3 months that she took my after picture instead of waiting for 6 months. She is going to email the before and after. When I get them I will post them on my profile.

Dorothy said I am right on track with my food and ahead of the game on my weight loss. Though, I do need to watch the "crunchy snacking". I always have been a cruncher. Anything salty and crunchy wins in my book. Have to be careful there.

I was feeling guilty about having yogurt and cheese sticks for snacks but Dorothy said not to. Since I don't drink milk, she said the yogurt and cheese sticks count for the milk I should be drinking so it's okay to go ahead and snack on those! YIPPPIEE!!! I can have guilt-free snacks!

On Friday I will have Steve take the 3 month picture and will get that posted.  Friday is my 3 month surgiversay.  hard ot believe it has already been 3 months since surgery.  So many things have changed, all for the better!

Now for the stats.
I have lost 60% of my excess body weight for a loss of 70 lbs since surgery. From my highest known weight of 280, I have lost 109 lbs I have lost 12 inches from my waist and 11 inches off my hips. I have a 32 inch waist!

I am only 11 lbs away from my surgeons’ goal weight. My ideal "Barbie Doll: weight is 134 lbs. I can't imagine getting to 134, but Dorothy said at this point she has no doubt that I will loose 100% of my excess weight. WOW!

My blood pressure was taken with a normal sized cuff, not the LARGE cuff! I was shocked when Dorothy said; hold on, you won’t need this large cuff now! GASP! WOOOHOOO! My BP was a little high 130/80 but not bad. I'll take it. Way better than the 180/100 it was running before surgery!

I feel good and have had no complications as a result of the surgery. I have had a few episodes of getting stuck from my own stupid food choices. We all learn some of us the hard way!

What a blessing this surgery and all of you are!

 I Hate Winter

"I hate Winter"  that sums it up.  I use to love the cold of Winter and hate the heat of Summer.  Since biking has become a way of life and now the lack of body insulation to boot, I can not stand the cold, snow, ice, sleet and on and on....BLAH!!!  I want a nice hot 85 degree day with about 70% humidity!

Because Winter is approaching the biking time has been cut over the past few weeks.  It seems it has rained more often than not over the past few weeks.  I just really miss getting out on the bike with the husband and the gang from the bike club.  *SIGH*  I t really is depressing.

Next year Steve and I are going to be ride leaders with out bike club.  That means we will be leading and mapping out rides for others in the club.  It should be great fun.  We already have many nice routes mapped out.  I am tightly holding on to the thought that these next few cold months will pass and soon we will be back out riding on the roads in the nice warm Minnesota Summer.

Did I mention I hate Winter?

Thanks for listening to me ramble on. Have a great day and stay healthy!

Hugs


Linda

Been a bit since I have updated.  I am still doing great and feeling great.  Food is going great and so is exercise and the bike riding!  Although I am sad that it is getting colder out and the days are getting shorter.  Soon we will have to bundle up to go for a ride and then it will be dark early and we will have to get the lights out for the bikes, then .....S-N-O-W   NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

So, let's talk about food, here is a typical day of food for me

Breakfast
1 Scramble egg with 2 oz Corned beef Hash
Protein 14 grams
Calories 200

Snack
3 oz yogurt
Protein 3 grams
Calories 40

Lunch
1 Riblet from Applebee's 3 oz
20 grams protein
300 caloriers

Snack
1 oz shelled, roasted peanuts
7 grams protein
165 calories
3 oz yogurt
Protein 3 grams
Calories 40

Dinner (will be a homemade fruit smoothie with protein powder)
Protein 23 grams
Calories 195

Total Calories - 940 Calories
Total Protein - 70 grams

Also I have had 48 oz of liquid so far and will have about another 40-60 oz of water during and afer teh bike ride today

There is food after WLS and it is good tasting and good for you!  So don't you believe people that say you will never eat again, what do they know!  I am 2 1/2 months out and I think I eat pretty darn good!

Now for the stats. 

I am down to 178 lbs and wearing a size 8 in pants a a medium in shirt or a 10-12

The boobs are really getting small!  Never in my life!  GASP! 

I don't think a day goes buy that I do not get at least one compliment from someone about how good I am looking, mostly people at work, but it is nice.

I have a new found confidence in myself and my abilities. 

Things are going great for the hubby and I.  Honestly, I am glad we have moved past this surgery and are getting back to a normal life.  This surgery can and will consume your life pre and post-op.  You have to make an effort to make sure you not only focus on you post-op but pay attention to the loved ones and friends around you. This surgery not only impacts your life but there lifes are impacted too!  Pay attention to them.  I am lucky enough to have a husband who is not affraid to say "HEY! what about me and us?  We need attention too!"  He is the best hubby and man in the whole world.  I am so lucky!

Take care and stay healthy!

Hugs to all!

Linda

8 Weeks Out 

Well, I am 8 weeks out from surgery.  Here is my 8 week picture. I am down 53 lbs and weigh in at 188 lbs.  I don't think I have weighed this little since before I had kids 25 years ago.  I feel good and things are still going good.  I think I can now see a difference.  I get lots of compliments on how nice I look now, but I look at me and still see the FAT Linda.  I don't think that will ever change.  I just hope I am able to keep thinking of THIN Linda and make good food choices.

 Me 8 weeks post-op 8-25-2006

And me pre-op 6-29-2006

Did *I* Just Eat That?!?!

I am a bit concerned at the amount of food I seem to be able to eat.  I guess maybe I just don't know what is normal at this point.  Is it okay that I can eat a 1/2 cup of soup or half a pork chop?  It seems to also depend on the time of day.  I seem to be able to eat more as the day goes on.  Yesterday was a really bad food day I felt like I was grazing all day.  I have to stop that!

Well, that is all for now...got to get busy.  TGIF!!!! 

19.0 !!!!

My proof!  Yes, it is true. 19.0!!! Look at the distance on the graph below. It reads 31.8 miles.  But, the part that has me thrilled is the speed.  If you look at the speed it says 19.0/31.3.  The 19.0 is my average speed and the 31.3 is my fastest speed.  19.0!!!!  Yes, I average 19.0 mph over a distance of 31.8 miles.  That *IS* my all time fastest average.

It was a great, no, fantastic ride!  We were on a club ride and I can never even come close to keeping up with the fast group.  But I did on this night :) I think this weight loss is paying off in the cycling department, not to mention all the other health benefits I have had from having WLS.

YEAH LOSER JEN!!!

Yet another benefit of WLS is all the wonderful people I have met.  Here is my friend and one of those wonderful people, Jen.  Jen had her surgery on Tuesday, June 15th.  Her surgeon, Dr. Svendson, is the Dr. in the picture with her.  Jen is doing great and has come through this surgery amazingly well.  I am proud of you Jen!

50.5 - OH MY!!!!

On the WLS surgery front things are going great.  I seem to have slowed a bit on the weight loss, but I'm okay with that.  I think my body and my pocket book need a chance to catch up.  A new clothing size every two weeks is expensive!!!  I have lost a total of 50.5 lbs since surgery on June 30, 2006.  That averages out to1.07 lbs lost a day or 7.5 lbs lost a week.  Those numbers are amazing to me!

In a few weeks I will be taking my 2 month pictures.  I am anxious to see if I will be able to see a difference in the before and after pictures.

Hugs to all!

Linda

 tags: wls+surgery, bikenaked, casper, cycling

No Crash This Time

Okay, so this was me last week

This week was better, much better  We (Steve, myself and David, a friend from work) rode 41 miles and didn't do this to each other    Seriously though, it was a great ride.  I rode my furthest ride and  had my best average speed since having surgery.   I averaged 17.1 mph over 41 miles...that ROCKS!  I felt strong and had legs that felt like pistons in  a fine-tuned engine.  Hills, for the most part, were no problem.  We worked as a team and took our turn pulling at the front of the pack, though Steve pulled most of the time, thanks babe! 

It was a beautiful day.  Although, the wind was gusting pretty good at times it didn't seem to bother me today.  The two things I dislike most are hills and wind when on the bike.  Odd, but neither bothered me today.  Maybe there is something to that weight to power ratio thingy!

Six Weeks

Speaking of weight... I have just a quick update on my progress with weight loss.  I am six weeks post-op and feeling great.  I have lost 49.5 lbs.  Even the inches are really coming off.  I have lost 10 inches off my waist and 9 inches off my hips.   In clothing, I have gone from an 18w/20w to a size 12 in just six weeks.  WOW!

I told Steve yesterday that this is the smallest he has ever seen me.  Steve told me each time he hugs me it is like hugging a different woman because I am getting so skinny and changing so fast.  Hmmmm????  Okay, that is a compliment :-)

I now weigh 192, this is the lowest weight I have been since having kids 24+ years ago.

Life is great and I couldn’t ask for a better husband!

Hugs to all!

Linda

ONEDERLAND

Good Sunday morning!

OMG!!!OMG!!!OMG!!!after yesterdays bike ride of 40 miles (I can't believe I made it that far!) I weighed in at 196!!!! Okay, I thought some of this is water loss. Which it was, but this morning I weighed in at 197!!!!! YIPPIE I am in ONDERLAND! Bye-bye 200's FOREVER!!!

Here is a comparison picture of me in 2003 and me a week ago. 

I am not sure what I weighed in 2003 but it had to be at least 280 lbs.  UGH!  It is amazing what a lot of exercise and WLS can do for a person!

I CRASHED ON MY BIKE!!!

Now the scary part. I crashed into the DH on our ride yesterday and went tumbling down then the DH tumbled down and landed on me. It was totally my fault that we crashed. I tore my new bike shorts. I have a nasty bruises on my upper inner-thigh (this one hurts), both my knees my, upper right arm and my left elbow too. Ouchie! The hubby has a knot on his left shin a bruise on his hip and it looks like he may have broke po sprained his left ring-finger and his neck is sore. We will recover but man was that scary! Our first crash on the bikes this year, and hopefully the last! One good thing, the bikes are fine

Despite a few flats that Steve had and one big crash, we did average 16.0 mph.  Not great for speed, but 5 weeks out of surgery I'll take it.

Here is my chart for yesterdays ride.

Hugs!

Linda

Brief Stall

Hi all, things are still going good in the weight loss department.  I have had no complications and am feeling great.  This past week I seemed to have stalled in weight loss for a brief period.  This morning I woke up and had lost 2 lbs.  So I am hoping the stall is over.  In the past 1 ½ weeks I have only lost 3 lbs, 2 of which were yesterday.

I am 3 lbs away form being in the 100’s and days away (I hope) from saying good-bye to the 200.s forever.  I believe it when I see it on the scale. Still, when I look in the mirror I don’t see any change in me. 

At 1 month and 1 week I have lost a total of 39.5 lbs.  I have to say that is the most weight I have ever lost in such a short time.  I started this journey wearing a size 18/20 pants and now I am into a 14 and they are starting to get lose.  I can wear some 12’s.  I hoping that I can some day fit into a size 8 or 6.  I don’t think I have ever worn a 6!

Onward and downward, past this stall!

Pedaling in Puddles

Ha!  Tuesday night was supposed to be a club ride.  After many days of oppressive heat and humidity it FINALLY rained.  It rained on and off all day Tuesday and thenit really rained into the evening and overnight on Tuesday. It is good that it rained, we needed the moisture.

It is not good that it rained out our club ride.  Doug, one of the ride leaders on out Tuesday night ride showed up at the ride start along with Steve and me.  Turns out everyone else new what we didn’t want to believe.  It was going t keep raining! 

Doug was a great sport and decided he would ride with Steve and I although we wouldn’t be doing an official club ride.  We no sooner left the start and it started to drizzle lightly.  Okay, I can deal with drizzle, it felt good after all the heat we had.

We got about a mile down the road and it started to rain a little harder.  Okay, I can deal with light rain.  Then it started to POUR!!!  It was raining so hard that the rain hitting our skin stung.  But, I was okay with it.  It wasn’t bad riding in the rain as it wasn’t cold and windy, and the roads weren’t covered in salt from the winter months.  We rode 23 miles and for me it was a rather fast pace of 16.4 mph., considering the weather conditions I thought 16.4 was pretty good. 

At the end of the ride we looked like a bunch of drowned rats.  Here is a picture of us drowned rats!

We now call ourselves the *Puddle Peddlers* or just stupid would work too!

Last night the weather was perfect, temps in the low 80’s, sunny and no wind.  Steve and I went out for a ride and ended up doing 28 miles. We had a great time and over 28 miles I averaged 16.2 mph.  The main thing is my back, feet, neck, shoulders and all the other body parts did not bother me one bit!  I can realty notice the difference with 39 less lbs to carry.

Tonight is another club ride and another beautiful Minnesota Summer day.  More later!

Hugs!

Linda

4 Weeks Post-op

Okay, the first picture is me pre-op.  The second is 4 weeks post-op and down 35 lbs.

I think I see It

It's hard for me to look in the mirror and see a change in my body.  My head still sees ALL of *ME*  But when I look at the photos I think I can see a change.  If you count the lines on the wallpaper in the side view I am 10-lines wide in the first picture.  In the second picture I am 8 lines wide.  Some progress!  Suddenly I like those lines on the wallpaper :)

Some Days

On a cycling note I think it sucks about Floyd Landis and I hope it's not true. 

My own cycling was way off today.  I did the 26 mile club ride but I felt like sh*t for about 3/4 of the ride.  I had no energy and EVERYTHING hurt today, my hands, my a$$, my back, and my feet.   I guess you can't win them all and tomorrow is anohter day!

The heat can go away anytime now. It has been 90+ degrees for what seems like forever now.  I've had enough. A nice 75 degree day would work for me!

That's all for now.  I need the weekend!

Hugs to all!

Linda

Going the Distance

Last night was our Tuesday night club ride.  Tuesday is the night that we have two mileage options; 29 miles or 25 miles.  I use to ride the 29 mile ride but slower than the rest of the group, which I was okay with.  Since a bit before surgery I switched to the 25 mile route as I could not go the distance on the liquid diet. 

Last night was a perfect ride!  I rode the entire 29 miles, plus the three miles to and from the ride start for a total of 31 miles!  This is my longest ride since surgery.  I felt pretty damn good too.  I got a little tired with about 5 miles to go but I kept pedaling my heart out and VIOLA, I made it!

I, of course, was one of the last one's in as I rode at an average speed of 16.2 mph over the 31 total miles, but I'll take it!  Steve was getting worried and started back out along the route to look for me.  I love you Steve!  I was only about a mile out from the finish when he found me. I was glad to see him and had been wondering if I was worrying him since I knew it was takig me a bit longer. 

When I started out on the ride I only wanted to go the short route, but I was able to keep up with the faster group for about the first 6 miles before I got dropped.  I started thinking, 'I'm feeling pretty damn good' so I decided to go the long route. 

There it this one hill that looks more like a wall.  It is about 10 miles into the ride.  Just before the hill there is a turn that you can take that avoids the hill and brings you back around onto the original route.  I thought about taking the turn but my legs just kept pushing forward.  Zip, up that hill I went.  I felt pretty good at the top and then is when I knew I would make the distance.  Man was I on top of the world right then.  Literally!

It was a great ride.  I can only look forward to more miles and faster speeds.  YES!!! Oh and hopefully beating Steve up those damn hills some day

Jen

My friend Jen FINALLY has a surgery date.  Jen will enter into the world of "losers" on August 15th, 2006.  YEAH!!!!!  I am so excited for her.  Tongiht Shannin and I went with Jen to celebrate her getting a surgery date.  We went to a place called "Black Forest"  It is German cuisine and the food seemed really good.  I think I will have to go back someday when I can eat a little more!  Congratulations Jen!  I'll be there for you!

New *ME* ?

Hmmmm, I don't know, the scale says down 28 lbs and the tape measure says down inches but I guess I don't see it yet.  I feel MUCH better and the Diabetes is still NOT there!  Time will tell....