Friday, April 27, 2012

My Weight Loss Journey

Something that a lot of my friends don’t realize is that I got pretty fat for a while.  At my heaviest, which seemed to be around November of 2009, I topped the scales at 150lbs.  Keep in mind that I’m only 5’3, and most of my life I spent weighing [significantly] below 120lbs.  I’m still not entirely sure how it happened.  I do think that living on my own played a HUGE role in it.  At my pre-employment physical, I weighed 136 clothed, still heavy for me, but seriously not too bad.  That was in May.  Somehow between May and November, I put on ~15lbs.  That’s HUGE when you lack in height the way that I do.  15lbs on me is like 30lbs on someone who’s 5’8. 
Unfortunately the best pictures to display me at my heaviest were from a friend's baby shower, and I looked more pregnant than her :( Also, I had my hair dyed red that day. (http://i.imgur.com/aoGyM.png Link for bigger photo)

I was living a pretty sedentary lifestyle at that point.  For some reason I wasn’t working out regularly, which is strange for me, since I’ve been working out very regularly since I was 15.  Work was slow, so I was sitting at my desk most of the time, and I’d come home, eat dinner, and sit in front of the TV or my computer, and talk to Derek until I fell asleep (we didn’t live together yet at this point).  I just led a boring, sloth-like lifestyle.  And that HAS to be what did it. 

Once Derek moved in, late November 2009, actually, we started to make some changes.  We both started watching what we ate WAY more, working out more, and even got a WiiFit to play at home to get some fun exercise in instead of sitting and watching TV all night.  This actually helped a lot, weird as it may sound.  I think I got down to about 138 at my lowest during that point in our life, and it didn’t take THAT long.  Just a couple months, but it goes to show you what finally getting off your ass can do!  …And then we bought our house and my weight fluctuated between 138 and 145 for about a year L

Seriously, it was like my body did NOT want to get any lower than 138.  I was miserable, and depressed about it.  After we got engaged we really started to try to get into wedding shape, we were P90X’ing regularly, eating “healthy”, I kept my daily calorie intake to usually at or a bit under 1000 calories a day, but nothing was happening.  Granted, I was probably gaining muscle and losing fat a bit, because I was noticing my tone starting to come back, THANK GOD.  But the scale wasn’t moving. 

I reached the breaking point at my first wedding dress fitting, I was SO excited to try it on, and when I did, it just wasn’t right.  It wasn’t too small, or like I couldn’t fit into it or something, it just didn’t look as good as the samples I tried on.  It didn’t fit right, and it didn’t look nearly beautiful enough for me to wear at our wedding.  I almost started crying on the drive home.  I had to try something new.  I needed to figure out a way to get back to kind of shape I used to be in.  I needed help.

Enter Dave.  Dave is a good friend of mine who was in Costa Rica with me for 2 months in 2007, and for some reason still talks to me.  He knows A LOT about nutrition and exercise, so I tend to ask him for advice often, while also getting angry at him because he gives out advice when I don’t ask for it either!  But that’s just Dave, he’s a good guy.  Anyhoo, I turned to him.  I told him I needed to lose 10lbs asap.  Like, in a month, before my next dress fitting, asap.  And I told him he had to help me, and no was not an acceptable answer.  He warned me I wasn’t going to like what he had to say…but it would work.  There is really no way it wouldn’t…Keto.  A Ketogenic diet.  What the fuck is that?  No carbs.  Stop eating fruit every damn day.  He got mad at me because I tried to make him make me a meal plan…he refused.  So instead he pointed me to r/keto, and I did my homework.  Shit looked easier than I thought!!!  I love meat and veggies!  Tuna, eggs, steak, TACO BOWLS, cheddar, I could DO this!  So I did, and so did Derek.  By managing to keep my net carb intake to, on average, under 20g a day, the weight melted off.  For the first time in years, I was starting to feel a sense of accomplishment.  I was still working out also, so the weight was coming off, and I was toning, and I was finally starting to feel good about myself again.  In about a month, I lost around 7lbs.  I got down to just above 130.  I was happy, my next dress fitting went SO much better, and the dress looked gorgeous.  But I wasn’t done yet ;)

 I kept it up, and by the wedding I got to 127.  I hadn’t been that weight since early senior year of college.  I was ecstatic.  Derek was around 200lbs also, and looking pretty trim and sexy I may add!   This “diet” really is easy to maintain.  You allow yourself cheat days once and a while, where I usually shove pizza or nachos in my face, or Melting Pot the shit out of myself.  So it’s not like you say bye bye forever to some of your favorite things.  They are just SO much better when you get them now. 

Fast forward to now.  It’s been 8 months since the wedding, and my weight was fluctuating again.  +10lbs from the honeymoon (I drank fruity sugary drinks and ate fried plantains with every meal, sue me), lost about 5 of it, then came the dreaded Holiday season, impossible to keep weight down…teetered from 130-135 mostly.   I needed to change things again.  Enter gym nut Jo-Ellen.  I wanted to turn back into what I used to be, the “If I don’t work out today I hate myself” Jo-Ellen.  Plus, I was getting boobs soon and knew I’d be out of commission for a while, had to get in shape.  So with the help of my amazing, sexy, loving, supportive husband, we started gyming it up about 5X a week.  Doing some workouts together as well.  So right before my surgery, I was 129, with some killer abs.  I was pumped.  Until now.  I thought THAT was great. My goal weight for years has been 125.  Well, I’m 125.4 and should probably take a picture of myself in my yoga pants and sports bra, all flexing and shit, because I look fantastic and I’m not afraid to brag.  I have been working SO hard for this, and the fact that I’m finally getting back to where I can be comfortable with myself is absolutely fantastic.  I’m proud of me, so I don’t care if I may come off as being obnoxious or bragging or whatever, because I feel good about myself again. 

Since it was requested, here is a repost of me at 129, right before my surgery.  Quite a transformation thus far!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Yes, I did get a Boob Job.


So I didn’t feel like actually coming out and saying it on Facebook, but I THOUGHT it was pretty obvious…But I guess not!

YES.  I GOT A BOOB JOB.

On March 20th, 9:00AM, I went under the knife.   Stats are as follows:

450cc, Silicone, High Profile implant, under the muscle, crease incision. 

Yes I can still breastfeed, yes they will “drop” and look very much like normal boobs, yes most of my clothing still fits, and yes we can afford it.

For those of you who feel the need to ask why I did this, what better reason do you need other than “Because I wanted to”?  What better reason is there for ANY action someone takes?  I am a 100% supporter of plastic surgery and think that if someone is not happy with an aspect of themselves, then who says they can’t change it?  Society puts too much of an emphasis on accepting yourself the way you were born.  Well what if you were born with an unsightly mole on your face?  Or a big honking nose you can’t breathe out of?  What if after years of worrying about others, your face is left with wrinkles?  What if you have tiny boobs which aren’t proportionate to the rest of your body?  Who says you can’t fix these things?  Why do you have to “accept” the way you were made?

You don’t.  Because you can be anything you want to be and look any way that you want to look.  So now I have big boobs.  Perfect boobs that are perfect for my body.  AND I LOVE THEM.  My husband is a fan too (although of course he fell in love with small-boobed Jo-Ellen, but really, what guy doesn’t like big boobs?).  I love the way I look, I love the way I feel.  I have been wanting to do this for 10+ years now and I finally did it, so fuck you haters, I’m gorgeous.

For anyone who thinks I did not need them, haha fooled you!  I have been wearing crazy padded bras for years that made me look ~C cup size.  No, I was like a 32A.  Not OK with broad shoulders and an ass that won’t quit!  So now I rock D’s or DD’s.  Haven’t quite figured it out for real yet.

So without further ado, here are my before and afters.  After is about 1 week post op, and before is the morning of. (Disregard my lack of a face...I used these pictures on a breast implant forum also, plus I was making weird faces)

Before, day of the surgery, 20Mar2012.  Bra size I was wearing: 32B NO PADDING
 Above and below were both ~1 week post op.  Also wearing a NON PADDED bra.  Still can't get over that that is ALL ME!!!
Derek and I have named them my "Ba-Bombs"