Hospital, Weight Loss, Clothes & Shopping

I am a large girl.  I have been large for quite some time.  Even as a child and a youth, I was not small.  I weighed about 200 lbs at graduation from High School.  In 2010, I ended up in the hospital (due to knee problems). While in the hospital I had a bunch of other health issues come up.  I did get weighed in the hospital (and was at an all time high of 554 lbs).  I knew I had gained quite a bit of weight due to swelling (I had a skin infection).  I ended up staying in the hospital 2 weeks.  During that 2 weeks, I lost about 60 lbs. Most of this was water weight.  I was still really heavy.

January 2010 on G & T's birthday

In March of 2010 I went shopping for prom dresses with Emmie.  I got a scratch and didn't bleed.  I had water coming out instead.  I was having trouble fitting behind the wheel to drive. My legs were so swollen that Essie would squeeze them to help relieve the pressure.

July 2010 on my birthday

When I was in the hospital my doctor had the bariatric surgeon come & talk with me.  He put me on a special diet in the hospital & had me consult with the nutritionist.  I came to realize that I wasn't eating enough, often enough or enough protein.  Most of the weight I lost those 2 weeks was excess water but the weight I've lost since then isn't.  I changed the way I eat & have lost about 1-2 lbs per week (most weeks).

June 2012 cutting the dog's hair

I can see the biggest changes in my face.  Getting my haircut helped as well.

This week I was at the Nutritionist's office. I weighed in at 380! On this blog, to the right is a weight loss counter. At the writing of this post, it shows I've lost 174 lbs. I still have quite a long way to go to reach my goal weight but I am so much smaller than I was before.

Today I tried shopping with Rosie & Essie.  We went to Lane Bryant.  I cannot remember the last time I was able to try on clothes & buy from a physical store.  I have bought my clothing through catalogs & online for the past 10 years (at least).  I wasn't sure if I would be able to find something that would fit me.  I did!

Rosie was trying on clothes as well.  At one point we had on the same shirt (different sizes, of course).  Essie took a picture of us using my phone.

Trying on matching shirts

Unfortunately it's a bit blurry (she is only 11).  It was fun trying on clothes.  I ended up buying 4 new shirts & 2 bras!  I did buy for Rosie as well.  I hope to go shopping more in the future as I lose more weight.

 

 

BTW - As I was looking for pictures of myself I realized I don't have that many.  I guess I take most of the pictures (which aren't very many) and need to ask everyone else to help out more. :)