Nag, nag, nag... LOL

Do I know how long it's been since I posted??? Yeah, I do! A friend from WV (hey Randy! hey Alice!) emailed that he and his wife have been watching here for some sort of update... It is great to know that folks still think about me from time to time! But, life has been too crazy to get here very much. It will be 3 months since I posted on May 21st! SO, I guess it is time?? LOL

I'm still teaching high school social studies. As you may recall, I got handed a class of Advanced Placement (AP) world history students this year--literally the week before school started. This meant that I got NO time to prepare for teaching this college level class and I had to start doing it without even the time to read and get a chapter or two ahead of the kids. It is a challenging course to teach under any circumstances. THESE circumstances made it more so. I have spent every week from August 16th till last week running just a few days ahead of the kids. There is so much to read and learn as you go through the course for the first time. And, there are no answers to anything to help you be sure you've come to the "right" conclusion yourself! I've found many valuable resources as the year has gone past. The largest of those has been a group of other AP world history teachers who offer support and resources via an online listserv. I can't tell you how much of my sanity those folks have saved this year! And, it will continue as I've been informed that I'll have 2 classes of AP world history next school year. I've got 51 students registered now, so that will be classes of 20 to 30 students each. That is a WHOLE lot of essays to score each week!

In addition to learning how to teach the course, the course itself is a race from the first day of school to the world history AP exam in May. You have only so many weeks to get them through 10,000 years of history and then review it all in the short time between finishing the covering of the material and the exam date. We had 2 weeks left for review. We'd originally planned about 3 1/2, so we lost over a week due to various things.

All in all, I think the year has gone well. My evaluation by my principal was awesome and I am looking forward to doing it all again next year. The good part, though, is that I will be attending a College Board sponsored AP world history workshop for a week this summer. The workshop is conducted by one of the well-known names in the AP world history game--Bill Strickland. He's been a wonderful fount of resources this year and I look forward to this face to face chance to learn more. Even better, the workshop is 2 hours from home in the lovely St. Petersburg, FL area and the funds were available to cover a hotel room, so it is like a mini-vacation with the workshop!

BTW, we won't find out how the kids did on their exam till July some time...UGH!

The AP world history that I taught was in addition to various other social studies classes--American history, regular world history, and American government. I also taught a whole trimester of reading back at the beginning of the year. Next year is supposed to be (fingers crossed) the two sections of AP world history and 2 sections of regular world history, which will run sort of parallel to the AP world history if I work it right... Plans are underway!

Life... Well, it has been crazy as I said! I'll celebrate 5 years since surgery on August 29th and I must report that my weight is up as a result of not taking enough time to take care of me... I did have my annual labs done in April and those were good. My iron is holding in the low range, not slipping lower. I'm sitting uncomfortably in the 240s these days. That is a gain of about 35 to 40 pounds over the past 2 years. I maintained between 205 and 210 for a very long time--like a year and a half. Then, the pounds started slowly creeping on about the time I started teaching full-time. I know that part of the problem is that I am not eating protein snacks like I did when I was home all the time. And, I can't blame anyone but myself. I haven't taken time to exercise. I haven't addressed the food choices and schedule. I do an okay job when I am at home, but the carbs have sure creeped back into my diet. And days when I forget to bring lunch to school means eating the school lunches. I swear those kids probably have feathers sprouting in their armpits from all the chicken they eat, but it is always breaded... Ugh! And, the school lunches are always carb-laden... One that they do regularly is terryaki chicken (which isn't too bad), but they serve it over white rice with a roll on the side and it is accompanied by either broccoli OR black beans AND a syruppy fruit cup. I hate paying $4 for some chicken and some broccoli or beans! I can tell them to keep the rice and the roll, but if I am hungry, I don't always do it. If the roll is whole wheat, I choose that. Otherwise, I eat some rice...

Good choices? No, not so much! I still keep sliced cheddar cheese in my mini-fridge. I still keep pepperoni slices in there, but it isn't the turkey pepperoni because it isn't available in a store brand here like it was in WV where we had the Kroger brand... I still keep my iced tea unsweetened and add Splenda. I don't drink ANY water...just the tea and I know that this can be a factor for weight loss/maintenance. I've gotten back to keeping protein bars in my desk again--just the Atkins Advantage chocolate peanut butter ones, but they're affordable and better than some out there. If I get hungry mid-morning OR if I fail to get breakfast before school, I can grab one of those towards the end of my second class and get me through to lunch.

What can I do about this weight gain? What do I plan to do? Well, school gets out on June 9th and teachers' last day of work is June 10th. Then, I have 10 weeks to figure it out!
Step 1--cut the carbs! I'm working on it, but every time I have a really good day, I cave in at night to the salty cravings...
Step 2--get back to exercising. Hubby's been home lately and I've got him talked into getting back to walking in the evenings... He was up to almost 2 miles per day at the time he was 3 months postop from his quadruple bypass. Then, once he was back to work full-time, he all but stopped walking any further than from the tractor-trailer into the truck stop and back again... He feels like crap and he's gained the 30 pounds that he lost right back again. SO, he's getting on the bandwagon with me when he's home. I got a new bike back before Christmas and haven't put 15 miles on it I bet... That is going to change! Between walking in the evenings and some afternoon bike rides, I hope to see that scale start to dive again.
Step 3--Planning a protein snack regimen for next school year...and finding some stuff I like to keep it going. I also need to get back to eating more salads... I like salads. I missed them SO much during that first 6 months postop! I'm going to get those back into my diet again and keep them there.
Step 4--More of the same! Getting the stuff back in place is one thing--keeping it there is another. I know that I learned all this stuff during my weight loss. I kept the weight off for a long time by just staying on track. I wasn't dieting. I wasn't going out of my way to not eat anything, but I was EXERCISING and I was getting the protein in...everyday, no matter what... Before my surgery, I was clueless how to lose the weight and keep it off. I can't say that anymore. I know what I have to do. I know how to do it. I CAN DO IT! I will do it...

3 mos again!

Recently, a dear WV friend pointed out to me (by email...) that I hadn't been posting to my blog. Well, all I can say is that life has intervened yet again. My last post was titled, "Has it really been almost 3 mos?" Well, that was in December and here we are almost to March! SO, I guess the same question applies.

Lots of stuff can happen in 3 months time! My weight is up--20 pounds or so more than I want it to be. My comfort zone is in the 205 to 215 range. Moment of truth--the number is more than 235 right now and it is entirely my fault. All those things we learn in the first couple of years postop would do me a world of good right now. Cutting back on the carbs, getting back to high protein, and doing some exercise on a daily basis would help me get right back to where I want to be. My clothes are fitting poorly, so I don't have a choice now. I refuse to buy a new set of clothing in a larger size range! Just NOT going to do it! SO, I got a new bike for my anniversary. I need to actually start riding it though. I live in a rural neighborhood, so no excuse for not walking. The carbs part...not quite so easy to break, but the exercise would certainly help with that too. I did stop by Vitamin Shoppe and stock up on protein bars the other day. I just need to purge the bread from my diet again.... It is awful to know exactly what to do to turn the situation around and to still struggle to find the motivation to DO it!

My grandbaby gets to come home next Saturday! Woohoo!! And, I got him a new bike too, so I'll have the baby wanting to ride as a motivator if nothing else works! He will be SO excited to see that bike! He's only had baby bikes till now and this is definitely a big boy bike!

Hubby is working 3 weeks at a time lately, so he's only home for 3 or 4 days every 2 1/2 to 3 weeks...bummer! And, he spends the first couple of days at home just resting and taking care of honey-dos! This means that more of what needs done around here falls to me. I am also still working full time as a teacher. I have 3 different classes to teach, which means lesson planning for 3 completely different courses. I was told this week that I may get to teach all AP World History next year. That would absolutely rock! 4 sections of the exact same class ALL YEAR LONG! Only one course to prep for is totally awesome, though only a teacher can appreciate it fully... And, AP world history is new to me this year, but I am starting to get in the groove with it and would absolutely love being able to devote all my time to this one course and being able to better develop my ability to teach this one class as opposed to trying to split my time amongst the 3 classes like I'm currently doing. If I want to read something to learn more, I have 3 classes competing for my time...which is most important? What can I read to help me in all 3? This makes it hard to choose!

Mandy is still working, but not going to school. How do you convince someone who graduates with a 3.8 cumulative GPA that they should go to college? We "made" her go for a semester after graduation and she totally blew it off, got all Fs and now has a 0.75 GPA. She had a previous college class as a dual enrollment student, so isn't a total 0.0 GPA. BUT, now she has money to payback in order to retain her scholarship AND she has to go a full semester without Pell grant before she can get it back too. That means paying back about $1200 for the classes she flunked and then managing to go without the help of Pell the first semester back. She gives no sign of any interest in going back yet... UGH! She turned 19 this month and gives NO help at home. We're basically like someplace she rooms for free. She pays no rent, does no chores, helps in no way whatsoever, and we're supposed to provide her a vehicle to run around in as well. NOT!

Eliza will turn 22 next month... She's still taking classes and she is starting to grow up, finally, we think. She's more respectful of what we do for her and for the baby. She is more helpful around home and when a vehicle needs maintenance or repair. She is doing better with helping her grandmother when she needs errands run or just someone to visit with her or ride to a doctor's appointment with her. She's just plain more adult than she's ever been. AND, to top it all off, she and her ex-husband are finally on speaking terms and can have a somewhat adult conversation without him just hanging up on her.... He's got another child already--born in January. Matthew got a little brother in January. Will this make things better? No, probably worse. But, perhaps--with this new focus--things will smooth out a bit on that end of this struggle and we'll get more cooperation. Matthew is supposed to start a 3 year old pre-K in August, but we are waiting to see what his Dad has to say about it...

That is pretty much the state of things here now... I'm going to post a recipe that is actually a repost from at least 2 years ago. This is what we're having for dinner!
Hugs till next time!
Lea

Even Jillian Was Fat As A Teen....

Most WLS postops can tell you a tale of woe that goes way back to their early childhood. I know I can. And, if I had them handy, I could scan pics that go back to my childhood and show you proof. I have them, but they are packed away at the current moment (project for the future!). I was a fat kid. I was a fat teen. I was a fat adult. It all lead me to become super-morbidly obese and 410 pounds! Well, in a Redbook article, well-known fitness guru and hotbod Jillian Michaels

reveals just the same story! At age 14, she carried 175 pounds around on her five foot two inch frame... Who'd have thunk it to look at her now! And, she lost the weight before the skin got all stretched beyond return. Good for her!

She tells Redbook that her mom noticed that she'd gained weight (she was 50 pounds overweight) and enrolled her in martial arts classes. If only it were that simple for some of us! If only our moms recognized and dealt with the problem. If only.... If only my mom had pursued my health issue (I was not diagnosed at hypothyroid till I was married and having my second child). If I, myself, had known that help was available and that I wasn't just a fat loser.... Well, that is how you feel when you try for years to lose weight and nothing works. Every time you see a doctor, you get the butt-chewing about your weight, but no suggestions as to what you can do about it other than "go on a diet...." Yeah, been there, done that!

Wow, 3 mos and so much has happened!

When I signed in just now, it said that my last post was posted Sept 11, 2009! OMG, that is 3 months ago! And, there has been SO much happen in my life since then...

I seem to recall posting about my knee scopes. I think I posted about hubby having health issues. Maybe I need to go back and read it again myself to see just what I have posted already! BRB LOL

Okay, so I posted about my knees, but not much more health-wise. I did tell you guys that I had found a bariatric doc here in FL. Dr. Shieh is great! He did my EDG on 9/23 and determined that my bypass is sort of messed up. The end of my intestine, which SHOULD come straight up to the bottom of my pouch, is hooked over like a candy cane with the end of the intestine closed up and connecting to the bottom of my pouch from the top of the candy cane hook. This means that I have my pouch, then below my pouch the food flows into this hook/chamber area and fills up there before my pouch fills up, so I essentially have TWO pouches and can eat a lot more than originally intended. In addition, I have a hernia that needs fixed. It causes lots of burping/belching every time I eat or drink ANYthing (and I do mean anything--even a sip of water!). At the time it was all diagnosed, I was not working and doc didn't think the insurance I had would cover the surgery to repair it all. Well, I have just gotten insurance approval to have this all fixed. It is technically a revision of my original RNY, but is a surgery specifically to correct the hernia and this hooked over intestine/pouch area. I will be having surgery on 12/21 and will be all fixed up afterwards. The hard part? It is really like having the RNY all over again! Teeny little pouch (as he'll make sure all is good on the actual size when he is done--it is a little large now plus the extra pouch space from the intestine), full liquids for days, etc. The good part? I have done it before and know what to expect this time. Hopefully there won't be any of that what-the-hell-did-I-do-to-myself phase this time!

In the meanwhile, I got a full-time teaching position! I am teaching social studies (world history, American history, geography, government, etc) at the very same high school that I graduated from way back in 1985. How cool is that? In a time when most of the counties here nearby laid off oodles of teachers at the end of last school year, I move back to town and get a position in the middle of the school year! Just had to be meant to be! There is a downside. The position requires dual certification--social studies AND ESE. My current certification is social studies, so I have to obtain the ESE certification. I am taking the FTCE for that this week. I'm studying and trying to get prepared. I take the test Thursday afternoon. Fingers and toes crossed and all prayers are greatly appreciated!

The World's Greatest Grandbaby has been in his dad's custody since 10/9/09. We've been to WV for court twice since then in my daughter's attempt to get him back. We've been waiting since 11/18/09 for the judge to render a ruling. How ridiculous is that? It has been almost a month now and we were told that he'd do what he could to render a quick ruling. If this is quick, I'd hate to see a slow ruling! Geez Louise! I have gotten to spend just about 18 hours with him since October 9th and we miss him dearly. We hope to have him home by Christmas.

Hubby has been through the wringer healthwise, but suffice it to say he is finally on the mend! He has had cellulitis that caused him to have a toe amputated. He had a heart attack and a quadruple bypass. Now, all that is left is the healing and that is going well.

What else??? Well, let me think and I'll post again soon!

And yet MORE before pics!

It is a wonder the stuff you find when you move and are in the process of packing and unpacking..... Some stuff should never see the light of day again. Some should have been trashed or donated a long time ago. And, still yet more stuff has been totally forgotten over the years. I stumbled upon a couple more "before" photos today!

This one was taken in June of 1991. I didn't yet know it, but I was just barely pregnant with my youngest (who was born Feb 92). Eliza (shown with me in the pic) was 2 and had a blast that day. We were on a road trip with my hubby in the tractor-trailer. He was hauling a load of watermelons from LaBelle, FL to Memphis, TN. We stopped along the way from time to time to be tourists--something we don't get much chance to do. This particular day, we toured the USS Alabama, a battleship from years gone by that is permanently docked at Mobile, AL. Eliza had a ball going up and down the corridors of the ship and climbing on bunks and such. There is also a submarine on site (the USS Drum I believe it was).


Then, there is this one... It was taken in the fall (Oct or Nov) of 1999 while at the CHADD conference. We were out sightseeing this particular day and, as you can see, this was taken in front of the White House. I probably weighed in the neighborhood of 350 to 370 at that time.


I am so happy to say that this is no longer me! I can't believe I waited so long to do anything about my weight.

You're Not Done Losing Till YOU Say You're Done...

There was a post on OH lately that stated that the person was 2 years postop from RNY and still 60 pounds from their goal weight. They asked what info could be shared about losing weight in the 18 mos to 2 year postop timeframe and that they really wanted to lose that last 60 pounds. One response to that post stated that you are not done till you say you're done. I really liked that attitude... If you give up, then you probably are done. If you stop really trying,then you probably are done. BUT, until YOU decide that this is it and you are not going to try anymore, then you are not necessarily done losing weight! We are told over and over that the surgery we had merely gives us a tool which we can use to lose weight. That tool is there for the rest of our lives. What we are often missing though is the motivation to USE that tool.

At any time, we can decide to utilize this weapon against fat! We can go back to what we've been taught and start using that tool/weapon again. We can eat properly, boost our protein intake, and increase our exercise. It really can be just that simple!

I post this because I am in that spot right now. I've moved, as you know already, from the hills of West Virginia (the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains) back to the flatlands of southern Florida. Walking is easier. Biking is more possible--even with my old bone-on-bone knees... I truly have no excuse for not exercising. Now, I am trying to DO it. I've gone from walking 2.5 miles per day Monday to Friday at about a 3.5 mph pace to walking almost 3.5 miles Monday to Friday at that same 3.5 mph pace. I am going to ride my bike today if the sky doesn't fall early (it rains most afternoons here). My sister and her best friend walk (at a MUCH slower pace) most evenings just before dark while their kids are riding bikes. I may start doing that too. It is just a matter of deciding that I want to do it, I am worth it, and it will help me AND make me feel better. I have made that decision. I am ready to do it. Let's just see how it goes!

Emotional Aftermath of WLS...

In an interesting post yesterday by Therese (Miss Redd) over at OH, the term "emotional aftermath" was used in reference to the period after WLS when we all have such turbulent emotions as we attempt to get used to living in the "normal" world without so much extra weight to pack around... It was discussed how the journey is more than just a period of weight loss. It is a time of really finding ourself all over again. We were fat for SO long. During that time, we were rejected for various reasons. We were too fat. We were unable to do things. We were unhealthy. We had no self-esteem or confidence. Sometimes it was other doing the rejecting. Sometimes it was just our beating ourselves up.

Now, as we lose the weight and take our lives back, we still beat ourself up! We are still fat in our heads and will probably always feel that way. Once the fat chick, always the fat chick--even if only in our own mind... We still struggle with SO many things. And it is more than just not really feeling comfy shopping in the juniors or misses department at the clothing store!

I related a story about shopping for cars. I looked at cars I would never, ever have even glanced at before solely based upon the proximity of my belly to the steering wheel! Someone else told about skipping a pedicure with friends because of her weight. We can get so depressed even after losing the weight that we stop going out and being with others! How can we get past this? I truly think that the emotional impact of the weight loss journey needs to be addressed more before surgery is performed. They want to know that we can deal with the eating changes that are required before they do the surgery. How about starting to help deal with the thinking changes???

Biggest Loser Addicts Step Forward

My name is Lea and I am addicted to The Biggest Loser!

I have my DVR set to record all new episodes! So, yeah, I am an addict too! And I don't delete them right away after I watch them either! I sometimes watch them again before I delete them...

I really like Tara and her dedication and commitment, but I hate her attitude. She can be such a bitch sometimes! And, the way she acted about Laura going home... It truly was in Laura's best interest as she would not have gotten better on campus because she would not have stayed off of that leg.

Mike and Kristen were my favorites though. I can relate to Kristen, especially since I started at 410 pounds and truly felt helpless and perhaps like I didn't really deserve it. It kills me that just when she finally realized that she DOES deserve it, she ends up going home. That sucked! And, we know she won't do quite as well at home as she was at the ranch. Mike is becoming a bit arrogant as he sees the competition thinning a bit. But, does he have the percentages that Tara does? I think she's at 41% and he's only at about 39%. That can change rapidly if she slows down and he keeps going steadily, but who knows! Tara lost 5 pounds this week! She's down to what--one seventy something? 5 pounds of that is a LOT compared to the same amount for someone who is still like 235 or so. Tara is also at a point where she is converting to muscle and I'm surprised she lost so much this week!

What have YOU lost??

I've lost an average adult man AND an automobile tire!

WHAT HAVE YOU LOST??

Your weight loss =

1 pound = a Guinea Pig
1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts
2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs
3 pounds = an average human brain
4 pounds = an ostrich egg
5 pounds = a Chihuahua
6 pounds = a human’s skin
7.5 pounds = an average newborn
8 pounds = a human head
10 pounds= chemical additives an American consumes each year
11 pounds = an average housecat
12 pounds = a Bald Eagle
15 pounds = 10 dozen large eggs
16 pounds = a sperm whale’s brain
20 pounds = an automobile tire
23 pounds = amount of pizza an average American eats in a year
24 pounds = a 3-gallon tub of super premium ice cream
25 pounds = an average 2 year old
30 pounds = amount of cheese an average American eats in a year
33 pounds = a cinder block
36 pounds = a mid-size microwave
40 pounds = a 5-gallon bottle of water or an average human leg
44 pounds = an elephant’s heart
50 pounds = a small bale of hay
55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner
60 pounds = an elephant’s penis (yep, weights more than his heart!)
66 pounds = fats and oils an average American eats in a year
70 pounds = an Irish Setter
77 pounds = a gold brick
80 pounds = the World’s Largest Ball of Tape
90 pounds = a newborn calf
100 pounds = a 2 month old horse
111 pounds = red meat an average American eats in a year
117 pounds = an average fashion model (and she’s 5’11”)
118 pounds = the complete Encyclopedia Britannica
120 pounds = amount of trash you throw away in a month
130 pounds = a newborn giraffe
138 pounds = potatoes an average American eats in a year
140 pounds = refined sugar an average American eats in a year
144 pounds = an average adult woman (and she’s 5’4”)
150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary
187 pounds = an average adult man
200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds
235 pounds = Arnold Schwarzenegger
300 pounds = an average football lineman
400 pounds = a Welsh pony

What is UP with my weight?

Well, I am running out of ideas... I am starting to think it is just my lack of exercise as I've tried low-carbing it to dump the water weight and it worked, but not completely... I am staying in the 208 to 212 range now, which is up about 5 pounds from my normal range for the last year or more. I normally range between 202 and 207. I always go up a few before "that time of the month" when I retain water and then lose it almost as soon as I start. No biggie and not stressing! But, this weight gain seems to be sticking, so perhaps it is more the winter of non-exercise than anything else? Thankfully, the weather has warmed and it is getting easier to get outside and move! This and getting ready for the half-marathon at Chicago on August 2nd may just get me back on track! If you are interested, Mandy and I are planning to do the Rock N Roll half-marathon at Chicago. Here's a link for more info! They have the COOLEST medal for this event!

Comment here if you're thinking of going too!!

MY APPETITE IS MY SHEPHERD (POUND 23)

MY APPETITE IS MY SHEPHERD (POUND 23)

My appetite is my shepherd; I always want.

It maketh me sit down and stuff myself.
It leadeth me to my refrigerator repeatedly.

It leadeth me in the path of Burger King for a Whopper.
It destroyeth my shape.

Yea, though I knoweth I gaineth, I will not stop eating
For the food tasteth so good.
The ice cream and the cookies, they comfort me.

When the table is spread before me, it exciteth me
For I knoweth that I sooneth shall dig in.
As I filleth my plate continuously,
My clothes runneth smaller.

Surely bulges and pudgies shall follow me all the days of my life
And I shall be "pleasingly plump" forever.

Gut Microbes Shift with Obesity, Upended by Gastric Bypass

http://www.genomeweb.com/sequencing/gut-microbes-shift-obesity-upended-gastric-bypass

Gut Microbes Shift with Obesity, Upended by Gastric Bypass

January 20, 2009

By Andrea Anderson

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The microbes living in our guts are linked — and could potentially contribute — to our weight. And these microbial communities are overhauled following gastric bypass surgery-assisted weight loss, according to a new study scheduled to appear online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Using a combination of Sanger and Roche 454 sequencing technology, a team of researchers from Arizona State University, Arizona's Mayo Clinic, and the University of Arizona assessed the gut microbes of nine individuals who were either normal weight, obese, or had lost weight following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.

The team found that gastric bypass surgery was linked to a dramatic shift in individuals' gut microbes. They also detected an intriguing pattern in the microbial community within obese subjects: these individuals harbored a combination of hydrogen-producing and -consuming microbes that researchers say may ramp up the amount of energy harvested from their food.

By understanding such shifts, the team hopes to come up with new obesity treatments as well as markers to predict who is at risk of becoming obese.

Roughly four million Americans are affected by obesity and about 300,000 die from obesity-related conditions annually. Although increased food energy intake and a lack of physical activity are partly to blame, the authors noted, systems governing the body's energy balance could also be a factor.

Roux-en-Y and other bariatric surgeries are the most effective obesity treatments available to date. By bypassing part of the stomach and small intestine, the surgery limits the amount and type of food an individual can eat.

Such procedures are associated with a certain degree of nutrient malabsorption, changes in stomach acid exposure, and other gastrointestinal changes that could potentially alter the gut microbial community.

In an effort to understand these changes, the researchers used a combination of Sanger and Roche 454 sequencing to amplify and sequence microbial 16S sequences from stool samples taken from nine adults: three who were normal weight, three who were classified as morbidly obese, and three who had undergone gastric bypass surgery between eight and 15 months prior to the study.

Using massively parallel sequencing on the V6 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene, the team generated 184,094 high-quality reads — an average of 20,455 reads per individual tested. These reads represented sequence from between 419 and 575 phylotypes.

Despite the diverse microbial communities and inter-personal differences within each trio of individuals, the researchers found groups of microbes that clustered together depending on weight or bypass surgery.

Whereas Firmicutes were the most common type of bacteria in normal weight and morbidly obese individuals, Gammaproteobacteria were dominant in the guts of those who'd had gastric bypass. These individuals also had more Enterobacteriaceae and Fusobacteriaceae and fewer bacteria from the order Clostridia.

"The large bacterial population shift seen in the post-gastric-bypass individuals may reflect the double impact of the gut alteration caused by the surgical procedure and the consequent changes in food ingestion and digestion," the authors wrote.

Because patients who've had gastric bypass surgery have a shorter gastrointestinal tract, lead author Husen Zhang, a post-doctoral researcher at ASU's Biodesign Institute, told GenomeWeb Daily News, they also have a higher concentration of oxygen in their gut. Not surprisingly then, he said the team found more facultative anaerobes — microbes that are capable of using oxygen — in that the guts of those who'd had the surgery.

Still, the researchers cautioned, more research is needed to determine the implications of this new microbial consortium. "The drastic change may or may not reflect a deficiency in beneficial microbes," Zhang said. "Maybe these patients need some kind of supplement."

The team also detected differences in the microbes found in the guts of the morbidly obese. While individuals from the normal weight and gastric bypass groups carried hordes of bacteria from the Verrucomicrobia phylum, for example, obese individuals did not. Instead, obese individuals often carried bacteria from the Prevotellaceae, a type of Bacteroidetes.

Both sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR indicated that the three obese subjects tested also carried microbes that produce or use hydrogen — including hydrogen-producing bacteria from the Prevotellaceae family and hydrogen-consuming Archaea.

Based on these results, the researchers speculated that there is teamwork taking place between the bacteria and archaea living in the guts of the obese. And, Zhang said, he and his team suspect that this cooperation may increase the amount of energy that obese individuals extract from food.

The researchers don't know yet whether this microbial community causes — or is a consequence of — obesity, senior author Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, a researcher at ASU's Biodesign Institute, told GenomeWeb. But if the team can verify that gut microbes contribute to weight problems, she said, it may be possible to develop new microbe-based obesity treatments.

And although physicians and researchers don't need a marker for morbid obesity itself, Krajmalnik-Brown added, the archaeal-bacterial community associated with obesity may eventually help to distinguish individuals who are at increased risk of becoming obese.

Next, the team plans to do similar studies in larger groups of individuals over time, to determine, for example, how gut microbes vary during weight-loss programs or before and after bypass surgery.

Before I _______, I will ________

Another great bit from a group I am part of...

Before I ____________, I will first ___________

I will first have a large glass of water then ask myself,"Am I really hungry? Or am I _________?" Try either chewing a piece of fruit flavored sugar free gum or drinking a 20 oz bottle of water.

I will do 10 (or as many as possible push-ups)

I will do 15 (or as many as possible) jumping jacks

I will walk for 5,10,15 minutes.

I will clean something

I will eat something that will bless my body (fruit or vegetable)

I will do one of my favorite things (read for 15minutes, internet for 15 minutes, garden, scrapbooking, chase
kids (grandkids) around, crayon or watercolor, write in my journal, sing loudly off key "Hooray for Baggy
Panties!"(ok, you get the picture)

I will"... practice the three Ds when we wanted to eat between meals....
DRINK(sound familiar?), DIVERT (do something to take your mind off food --walk or read or DO something), and DELAY (wait fifteen minutes -- if you are still hungry, you probably need some food to fuel your body)"

I will brush my teeth (When you crave a dessert or sweet treat, try brushing your teeth. Something about the act of brushing and the minty flavor of toothpaste is supposed to tell you that it's not time to eat – plus candy or chocolate or whatever it is you want to snack on won't taste half as good with that minty flavor in your mouth!)

I will change my attitude...I was scared to give up sweets because I was QUITTING something. But I turned the negative of quitting into a positive. I am ADDING the habit of having one dessert per week.

I will not buy treats (they are too tempting and my family gets enough other places without needing them at home), when I am winding my day down I will make myself a large cup of herbal tea.  It takes me a while to drink it (because it is hot), I am getting flavor in my mouth (I now have a huge stash of tea varieties), and it counts toward my water consumption.  I have found that I really look forward to sipping my tea, and I can watch some TV or read a book and not feel guilty that I am consuming mindless calories.
 
I will have a piece of paper on my refrigerator and every time I have a craving, I write it down. The deal is that on Sunday I can pick one thing from the list to eat in moderation IF I STILL WANT IT. I usually find that after a few hours the thrill is gone, and I can make a reasonable decision for a treat on Sunday. It's funny, but most of the time once I write the craving on the paper I can usually forget about it.

I will plan which days I would have a dessert. I am trying to focus on asking myself which dessert do I want to have on Saturday instead of focusing on what I am saying no to at the moment.

Biggest Loser update...

Some weeks, you can see it coming... You know what is going to be the outcome before it happens. THIS week was NOT one of those weeks! I honestly figured it was going to be Joelle going home! And, when it came down to it, the two below the yellow line were Joelle (silver team) and Damien (red team). Joelle had been asked point blank "do you want to be here in the house?" and she stalled and couldn't answer. The answer was obviously NO. She did not want to be there and this last two weeks made that clear. Damien very clearly wants to be there and has been working hard to bring his partner/fiance back after next week. But, when they went to vote, some of them still voted for Damien. It was a tie. And, as he had the lowest weight loss percentage for the week, he got the boot. In their clips of him and his fiance and how they are doing so far, he and she both looked great! They were having their engagement announcement pics taken and they looked healthy and very happy. I bet they make one heck of a showing at the finale!

Stalls--How they work... What can you do??

In a current discussion over in the OH mini-challenge group, we're discussing stalls and what causes them and what you can do about them. I dug up this older post of mine from our YahooGroup and thought I'd share it here since it wasn't already here!

Stalls...
This is one of the truths of WLS journeys... You have the surgery and leave the hospital expecting to just melt away the pounds. Well, sometimes exactly that happens. But, not usually. Most of us experience several stalls along the way. Some lose slower just because they started out lighter and had less to lose. Others lose slowly despite starting at 300+ pounds. There is just no way to predict how you'll lose. It is, for this very reason, SO important that you measure your body! I just wish I'd measured before surgery so I knew where I truly started out. I had already lost 40 pounds by the time I measured! Who knows how many inches 40 pounds on a 410 pound body could have been!

You lose weight sort of like descending a stairway in a skyscraper...
You go down a couple of flights and then you hit a landing where you turn and prepare to go down some more. At some landings, there are doors to leave the stairway and stray from your path. The trick is knowing that you don't have to go through that door and that by just staying on the path, things will continue as they are supposed to. Many people hit a stall (or landing!) and just because they are not losing weight, they let their eating habits stray a bit and maybe eat things that they shouldn't and thereby stall even longer. Those that stick to their plan and don't stray eventually pick up and take off on the losing again. Too often though, someone who is at a stall takes the time to start logging their food/water/protein info and finds that part of the stall is their own fault! They are not eating enough or are eating too much of things they shouldn't. They are often not getting in enough liquids and protein each day. Then, when they adjust for those things, the losing takes off again!

For me, I lost 24 pounds preop on a 1000 calorie/100 carb diet to shrink my liver. I was not required to lose even one pound, but I wasn't allowed to gain even one pound either or they cancel your surgery and put you on a diet! How's THAT for incentive to do your best? So, 24 pounds down by surgery day put me at 386. I left the hospital at 391 thanks to IV fluids. Even starting out that heavy, at 2 mos postop, I was only down 40 more pounds and I stalled for two weeks. I did what SO many do--I freaked out! What if that was it? What if I never lost another pound? OMG!! Then, all of a sudden, I lost 5 pounds and it started again. By 4 mos out, I was down 100 pounds. Then I stalled for THREE weeks! And this continued. I would lose for a couple of weeks and then stall for a couple. By 7 mos out, I was losing only 4 to 8 pounds in an average month and some months lost only the week after my period. BUT, I lost 100 pounds in 2006 and 105 in 2007. I hope to lose at least 20 in 2008 and STAY at 185ish with no true hope of plastics to take care of this excess skin. If at some point in the future I can manage some plastics, I may eventually see a weight closer to the "normal" range for me (122 to 159 is the normal BMI for me). But, I'll be happy--truly happy--at any weight that starts with a ONE!

FOLLOW-UP, Jan 2009:
The above post was written in January 2008. I hoped to lose 20 pounds in 2008. I did not. I am still, all these many months later, maintaining between 202 and 207. Am I okay with it? Yes and no... Yes, if I can stay at this weight range for the rest of my life (without plastics), and not do so via vigorous diet methods, then I am happy. I look and feel TONS better! But, if I am unable to maintain and stay here for the long haul, then I am not sure what I'll do. I wonder at times if my stoma isn't stretched as I know I can eat more than I expected to be able to... But, I"ve not pursued that in any way at all either. I eat sensibly. I get my protein and liquids in. I'm not doing a huge amount of exercise. Some days, I must admit that I didn't exercise at all other than taking the stairs and parking farther out, etc. But, even when I do pursue a period of regular exercise, it seems to make no real difference and I seem to stay in this same old weight range. I go as high as 212 to 214 once in a while the week before my period, so I know that it is probably water weight and munchies that I can try and blame on good ole' aunt flow. But, I also know that the munchies thing is in my control too. It seems that the weight just suddenly disappears a couple days after my period ends though, so I've not really stressed over it either. What can I do? Not much other than sticking to the rules for the most part. What should I do? Kick my own ass in gear and start exercising regularly and being religious about my daily food plan. Will I? Probably not.... And, I blame part of this complacency on the fact that I can maintain by just doing what I am doing... Ugh! I hope it lasts!

One for the Girls... LOL

One for the girls

Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord
my shape to keep.

Please no wrinkles, Please no bags

And please lift my butt before it sags.

Please no age spots, Please no gray

And as for my belly, Please take it away.

Please keep me healthy, Please keep me young,

And thank you Dear Lord, For all that you've done.

Five tips for a woman....
1. It is important that a man helps you around the house and has a job.
2. It is important that a man makes you laugh
3. It is important to find a man you can count on and doesn't lie to You.
4. It is important that a man loves you and spoils you.
5. It is important that these four men don't know each other!

Foot Note:
One saggy boob said to the other saggy boob:
'If we don't get some support soon, people will think we're nuts'

*Send this to five bright, funny women you know and make their day!!!

Christmas is gone for another year... New Year's resolutions?

Christmas has come and gone for 2008. Another year has almost passed as well. Just another few days and we'll be ringing in the New Year--2009! What will the year bring for you? Are you making any New Year's resolutions this year? Will one of them once again be to get back on track and lose weight? Or, has your journey brought you past that point now?

I know that I am happy at this point in my journey. No, my weight is not quite where I'd like it to be and I've never reached my goal of 185 pounds. But, I saw Dr. Stickler the other day in his lobby and he gave me a great big hug and said, "Well, you look like you're keeping the weight off!" Wow, how great does that feel to hear after being 410 pounds?? AWESOME, I tell you...just awesome! I mentioned that we were getting different/new health insurance after Jan 1 and that I was hoping that at some point in the future, I'd have insurance to cover a tummy tuck and get rid of that 5 or more pounds of skin... He said, "Oh, those are just the finishing touches..."

I guess that got me to thinking again about where I am and where I've been. He is right. They ARE just finishing touches. I can (and will) live without them. I will love getting that skin removed at some point in the hopefully not so distant future, but I will not fret over it while I still have it. Heck, getting that skin lopped off will involve a painful recovery AND the need to once again buy clothes as I know I will go down one or maybe even two pants sizes with that change!

So, I guess my only new year's resolutions this year will be to continue to eat healthfully, try to exercise a bit more, and just enjoy life! We could all do that a bit more!

We'd do ANYTHING!

I was at my support group meeting last night and a conversation was started amongst the group with a new attendee who is looking into having surgery and is weighing her options. She asked a couple of "what if?" questions... Then, we got onto the subject of food tolerance. By food tolerance, I don't just mean becoming lactose intolerant or being a mega-dumper. I'm also referring to all the stories you hear as a preop person about all those foods you won't be able to eat after surgery. Another question this preop person asked our group was how we handled eating and dieting before surgery and avoided just eating to break the bank because of getting in one more time of all your old favorites before you have surgery and can no longer eat those foods--ever. Well, of course the first thing anyone told her was that it was not usually true that you can't eat those foods again... In many (heck, most!) cases, we've been able to eat about anything we'd like as a later postop, just in much smaller portions and some foods with less frequency...

This turned to a conversation about how things progress as you get farther and farther postop... Our support group leader said, "remember when we'd do ANYTHING!" She was referring to those first few months postop when you follow your surgeon's and nutritionist''s plan to a T. You do what you are told, when you are told and how you are told. You weighed/measured your foods. You charted everything you ate and/or drank. You didn't drink for 30 minutes before or 30 minutes after you ate. You exercised like there was no tomorrow! You made healthy snacks and toted a cooler with you when going out so that you could stick to your plan... Then, little by little and bit by bit, you started to change. You found restaurants where you could grab a quick bite while out instead of eating what you brought with you--even if fast food was a binge/trigger food for you. You started sipping while eating. You began to figure out what foods that you shouldn't really be eating would bother you or make you dump and in what amount you had to eat them before this happened. Again, you did this regardless of whether those foods (yummy cinnamon buns with cream cheese icing!) were perhaps part of your problem preop... Your healthy snacks became a bit less healthy... It began to feel like work getting that stuff ready... It was so much easier to grab something else. Chopping veggies to have something healthy and crunchy to snack on was much more work than just grabbing a big handful of those chips hubby snuck in on you. Boiling an egg takes time... You stopped tracking every bite you ate... "Normal" people eat that, right? Well, you did have this surgery to BE normal...

You come up with excuses to justify your little slips... "I had some chips this afternoon because there was nothing else where I stopped to grab a snack..." Yep, that may have been true, but it is likely you knew in advance that you'd be out today and need a snack while you were gone but failed to plan and pack something. And, for most folks, as you got nearer to your goal weight, you slacked off on your exercising as if it were something you only needed to LOSE weight, not just to keep it off. Don't forget, you had this surgery to be more normal and normal, healthy people exercise! I'm not criticizing you--I am guilty too!

The meeting moves on and we were talking about how many of us were doing okay, but would really have liked to lose another 15 or 20 pounds. One person had gotten down to a size 10, but was back up to a 14 and did not like it... What do we have to do to get those last few pounds off or to get back into those size 10s? We have to get back to the program! We left it, it didn't leave us! We know what to do. We know how to do it. It is within our reach. We just have to want it bad enough to DO it! We have to take the time to chop those veggies and have them ready. We have to boil a dozen eggs at a time and have them waiting in the fridge instead of making just enough for now or just enough for tomorrow's lunch... Eggs keep for a few days! We have to find better options even if it means carrying that cooler again! Find a snack food that is a good option for you and keep it in the car. Yes, during part of the year that food will have to be something that won't melt or spoil in the heat. But, that is part of the job we took on as postops... If we want to reach our goal weight OR even just maintain at the weight that we did reach, we have to be committed to it. We have to take the steps necessary and we MUST continue to exercise--even walking--on a regular basis in order to maintain...

Am I telling YOU what to do?? Heck no! (unless that is what you need! LOL) I am in a sort of a slump if you will... I reached my all time low of 197 pounds (down from 410) back in February of this year (2008). Before that, I wanted SO badly to get down to 185. I kept a vigilant food log. I exercised--not enough, but I did something every day. I weighed and/or measured my food. I carried a snack with me if I were going out for several hours. I told myself that I was going to see that 185 on the scale despite the fact that my loss had slowed to a measly pound or two a month and I had no hope for plastic surgery... Heck, as long as it was a loss and not a gain, it was all good! But, then I saw that magic number... I was at my support group meeting for February and though the scale had said 201 at home that morning, it said 198 at the doc's office before the meeting. I showed that baby to everyone! (doc's scale gives you a printed slip) HoooooAhhhhhhhhh! Then, at home that evening, it said--drum roll here--197.4. O M G!!! It wasn't just a discrepancy in the two scales! I went to bed that evening on TOP of the world! I had achieved onederland suddenly. For 18 months, I'd been telling people that my biggest goal in this journey was to get to a weight that began with a ONE and into a clothing size that began with a ONE... I had been into size 16 jeans for a very long time by February. Suddenly I had met both those goals--197 pounds (freaking right!!) and size 16 clothing... While a size 16 may not seem small to some, it was SO much smaller than the size 36W I started out in!

Life was good! And, for whatever reason, it was like a switch was flipped in my head. My goal of 185 pounds seems to have been vaporized from my head. It no longer mattered for some reason. Heck, it was like I never had that goal--though there it was, so plainly stated on my blog, my OH profile, in my siggy for OH... Suddenly, as long as I didn't gain, I didn't care if I lost either. And, I found myself setting a "safe zone" for my weight (197 to 205) and deciding that as long as I didn't fluctuate over that safe zone, all was right in the world and no reason for drastic change of any sort. Why, all of a sudden, was 197 to 205 good? Why was 185 no longer a valid goal? Who the hell knew... I stopped counting my calories and carbs. I totally stopped logging what I ate. I counted only protein grams to be sure I was getting in enough each day. I allowed the bad carbs (not just carbs in general, but WHITE, refined carbs--like the ones in cinnamon buns) to creep back into my food intake. I backed off on exercising and would have several days in a row where I did nothing of note to "move my body." Most days, that scale says something in the 205 pound range. Recently, thanks to water retention, I was all the way back up to 209. Was this cause for aggressive motion? Heck no! I'd still lost over 200 pounds... So, I consoled myself with that and changed nothing. Then, my ankles swelled up with the water retention (this was an issue preop for me) and I had to go back on the meds for it for a bit. Suddenly, as is the case when you get the water retention going back in the right direction, the scale that had gotten up to 209 pounds was down to 201 again! You see hope of maybe seeing a one at the beginning of that number again soon... And, if you are like me, you tell yourself that it was probably just water retention all along--ever since you got back over 200 way back in oh, May?? Or was it April? Yeah, it is now July!

SO, why was this lack of loss or, yeah, gain for some reason okay in my eyes? Who the hell knows! Why was I suddenly willing to stay over 200 pounds for the rest of my life? I wish I could tell you. Do I still wish to lose more weight? Well, yeah... Am I doing anything to move in that direction? Well, no... I know, deep in my heart, that I am not doing everything I could to lose or even maintain. I know that I could do more. I know what that "more" is too. Why can I not motivate myself to try--even a little? I want to get back that feeling of being willing to do ANYTHING to reach my goal! I'm just clueless as to how to get that feeling back...

Do Big Breakfasts REALLY Help Dieters Drop Pounds?

In life, there is one thing that many folks think is gospel. That thing? "Breakfast is the MOST important meal of the day!" Why? There are all kinds of reasons, but the biggest one is that it supposedly gets your metabolism jump-started for the day. Another is that it is supposed to help keep you from being so hungry as the day goes by...

In a recent net publication, researchers argued that big breakfasts really do help folks who are dieting to drop pounds AND to keep them off longer. Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University created a diet plan to help folks maintain weight loss. Their plan was to eat a protein heavy breakfast and then low calorie and low carb meals the rest of the day. Their control group was on a classic, carb-restricted diet. Did it work? Well, from the numbers they now tout, you'd think it did. Not only did the participants lose weight, they tended to keep it off better. After 4 months of dieting, the classic, carb-restricted dieters lost an average of 28 pounds. The protein heavy breakfasters lost an average of 23 pounds. BUT, after 8 months, the carb-restricted dieters had gained back about 18 pounds and the protein breakfasters had lost another 16 pounds, bringing the average weight loss to 41 pounds! Over time, they reported that the protein breakfasters shed about 21 percent of their starting body weight, while the carb-restricted dieters averaged a loss of less than 5 percent.

Now that was a research project that we WLS postops can get behind! We're ALL about the protein! And, in general we follow low calorie and low carb diets for life. Now if I could just get the hang of eating a big breakfast! LOL I am SO not a morning person! And, it is hard for this night owl to get motivated to get up and cook a big breakfast--even when it is for more than just me!

weight update--it's been a while!

So, I hit my all time low of 197 back in February I think it was. Since then, I've fluctuated anywhere from 197 to 209. It all depends on how I'm eating, whether I'm getting any exercise, and how the water retention is going. I have issues still with water retention, but I am not taking the Rx meds like before surgery. I still have to go back on them from time to time though to get things back under control and to alleviate the swelling in my feet, ankles, and calves.

Last month, prior to my visit from my beloved (not!) Aunt Flo, I started retaining water. This is normal for most every woman and I usually see it go down again after her visit is over. Not so this past month. No weight drop afterwards and the water is still there in my legs/feet. This month, I can feel the water retention again and see the increase in my legs and feet. I will probably have to go back on the Rx meds again for a while to get things running smoothly once again. The bad part (other than needing the Rx meds) is that my weight is staying in the 205 to 209 bracket these days. Now I know that a few days on the meds and I'll be peeing like a racehorse and seeing that scale slide down again. But, at the same time, I also know that I've been eating way too many carbs and salty stuff and could be working on getting the sodium intake down and getting some of that water out of me that way. Have I done so??? Well, of course not! That would be the easy way to do it, but I would have to curb that carb intake and I've not yet talked my brain into that... I've also not been getting in enough protein daily lately and really need to work on that too. I've never really seriously considered the 5 day pouch test, but I do need to have a few days of protein feasting to get past the carb cycles. Today wasn't too bad, but even it could have been better. I really need to find a new favorite protein rich snack to start munching at!

So, I've got a bowl of ricotta fluff whipped up in the fridge. I'm stocked up on cheese. I need some jerky. I have plenty of nuts. I might need peanut butter. But, I need to go back to eating it off of a spoon and not on wheat bread! I can do this!! I just lack motivation till that scale gets this close to the top end of my comfort zone (210!)... I'm there now though as the scale said 209 this morning... GOT to get going now!