04-12-00 - Well, I'll bet you're wondering why I chose the b'day cake graphic for the top of this page....easy answer....It's my birthday.  Today I'm 36 years old and couldn't be happier than with the birthday present I've given myself - the opportunity to be thin.  I'm not "there" yet, but I'm making wonderful progress.  Food is still a challenge, well, I should say actually protein is my challenge, but I'll bet that story is getting old to many of you that are keeping up with my journal.  I have recently started using a protein drink that has 40 grams of ion whey protein per drink.  It's tastes very much like Kool-Aid.  I'm hoping that if I can drink one of these a day along with my food intake, it will be enough to finally bring the hair loss to a stop.  The drink is called PurePro and you can buy it online from netrition.com. 

I was recently in to visit both my surgeon and my nutritionist, and they both feel I'm doing wonderfully.  I do not see the surgeon again for six months and I will only visit the nutritionist if the need arises.  

4/18/00 - Woo Hoo - I'm down to 220...I can't believe it.  That's 87 lbs since November 18th.  I have even gotten into smaller jeans.  Size 20 jeans are now very comfortable.  And today I actually bought a pair of size 18 shorts.  I know it's hard to convey these emotions, and maybe everyone is not as affected by dropping sizes as I am, but I am just amazed....it feels like a miracle to me.  I can honestly say to everyone that I can not remember when I last wore a size 18 or 20 pants.  So I had to have a picture snapped so you could see my progress.

4/22/00 - Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and luckily I'm no longer a child that looks forward to that basket full of chocolate bunnies.  I must admit I am a chocolate fanatic, but thankfully I opted for the rouxenY rather than gastric banding surgery and would rather forgo the chocolate than take a chance at "dumping"  I've not yet "dumped" but from everything I've read and heard from others....it is no fun at all.

I'm still exercising, and have begun taking a class at the gym called "Super Stomach"  I'll bet that gives you a clear picture at where my problem area is...  Let me help you out again...if they had a class called "Super Butt" I'd be enrolled too :)  Yes, now you understand...my belly and my butt do not seem to be going down as quickly as everything else.  But I suppose this too shall pass.  Patience and persistence, will have to eventually pay off.  Well, I will close for now, so I can post this to my site.  I'm also going to quickly take some new measurements and post them on my weight chart, so don't forget to check that out too.  Bye for now, and thanks for checking in on me.